Civil Constitution of the Clergy

The law of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy (Fr. "Constitution civile du clergé"), passed July 12, 1790 during the French Revolution, subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government.

Status of the Church in France before the Civil Constitution

Even before the Revolution and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the Catholic Church in France (the Gallican Church) had a status that tended to subordinate the Church to the State. Under the Declaration of the Clergy of France (1682) privileges of the French monarch included the right to assemble church councils in their dominions and to make laws and regulations touching ecclesiastical matters; furthermore, papal authority within France was severely limited by requirements of royal consent, and it was lawful to appeal from the Pope to a future council of the Gallican Church or to have recourse to the "appeal as from an abuse" ("appel comme d'abus") against acts of the ecclesiastical power.

Related Topics:
Gallican Church - Declaration of the Clergy of France - 1682

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Even prior to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy:

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• On August 4, 1789, tithes were abolished.
• On November 2, 1789, Catholic Church property that was held for purposes of church revenue was nationalized, and was used as the backing for the assignats.
• On February 13, 1790 (some sources give the date as February 11; for example, http://www.dabar.org/Religion/RED/R-Words/Redrevolution.htm), monastic vows were forbidden and all ecclesiastical orders and congregations were dissolved, excepting those devoted to teaching children and nursing the sick.
• On April 19, 1790, administration of all remaining church property was transferred to the State.

Thus, the changes brought about in the Civil Constitution of the Clergy were as much at the expense of the monarchy as that of the papacy.

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