Jansenism

Jansenism was a 17th- and 18th-century theological movement within the Catholic Church, primarily active in France, which arose as an attempt to reconcile the theological concepts of free will and divine grace in response to certain developments in the Catholic Church, but later developed political and philosophical aspects in opposition to royal absolutism.

It was based on the ideas of Cornelius Jansen (1585–1638), a Dutch bishop, and his book Augustinus. Jansenists believed that God’s grace was the only way to salvation and that human free will had no role. Jansenists provoked lively debates, particularly in France, where five propositions, including the doctrines of limited atonement and irresistible grace, were extracted from the work and declared heretical by theologians hostile to Jansen.

In 1653, Pope Innocent X condemned five ideas from Jansenism in the apostolic constitution Cum occasione. Although Jansenists had some protection under Clement XI, they later became linked to political opposition to the monarchy. This made them a target of King Louis XIV and Clement XI, who took strong actions against them. In 1708, the Abbey of Port-Royal, a center of Jansenist thought, was closed. In 1713, Clement XI issued the bull Unigenitus, which further condemned Jansenist teachings.

In the 18th century, Jansenists joined forces with Enlightenment thinkers in opposing the Jesuits, and they also played a role in persuading Louis XV to launch the suppression of the Jesuits. Many priests who supported the Civil Constitution of the Clergy during the French Revolution were influenced by Jansenism. However, Jansenism declined in the 19th century. The First Vatican Council's decision to declare papal infallibility ended the main debates that had supported Jansenism, leading to its disappearance.

"A historical enigma" according to certain historians, "an adaptation to changing circumstances" according to others, Jansenism had an evolution parallel to that of the Catholic Church until the 19th century, without any incontestable unity to be found in it.

The term 'Jansenism' was rejected by those called 'Jansenists', who throughout history consistently proclaimed their unity with the Catholic Church. Abbot Victor Carrière, precursor of contemporary studies of Jansenism, says the following.

There is perhaps no question more complicated than that of Jansenism. From the beginning, many of those who were rightly considered to be its legitimate representatives asserted that it does not exist [...]. Moreover, in order to escape the condemnations of the Church, to disarm certain attackers and win new adherents, it has, depending on the circumstances, attenuated or even modified its fundamental theses. Thus, despite the countless works devoted to it, the history of Jansenism in its entirety still remains to be written today, since the spirit of polemic has prevailed for two centuries.

Jansenism was first of all a defence of Augustinian theology in a debate initiated by the Protestant Reformation and the Council of Trent, then a concrete implementation of this Augustinianism. The struggle against ultramontanism and papal authority gave it a Gallican character, which became an essential component of the movement. In the absolutist France of the 17th and 18th centuries, the fear of a transition from religious opposition to a general opposition justified monarchical repression of Jansenism, and consequently, transformed the movement by giving it a political aspect marked by resistance to power and a defence of the parlements. In the 18th century, a diversity of 'Jansenisms' became more evident. In France, the participation of secular society in the movement revealed a popular and miraculous component involving figurism and the phenomenon of the convulsionnaires. In northern Italy, the influence of the Austrian Enlightenment brought Jansenism closer to modernity. However in the 19th century, Jansenism was primarily a defence of the past and a struggle against modern developments in the Catholic Church.