TheOrganic Articles (French:Articles Organiques) was a law administering publicworship inFrance.
The Articles were originally presented byNapoleon Bonaparte, and consisted of 77 Articles relating toCatholicism and 44 Articles relating toProtestantism. It was published as aunilateral addition to theConcordat of 1801, which is also sometimes referred to as the "French Concordat," on 8 April 1802. Napoleon had it presented it to the Tribunate and the legislative body at the same time that he had them vote on the Concordat itself. It met with opposition from the Catholic Church withPope Pius VII claiming that the articles had been promulgated without his knowledge.[1]
Presenting the Organic Articles was Napoleon’s method of granting theTribunat and theCorps législatif partial control of theconcordat in order to help thestate monitor any politically harmfulCatholic orProtestant movements or activities. In 1797, two years before Napoleonseized power, there had been arevolt in the Vendée of lay Catholics which had been brutally suppressed. This incident is believed to have inspired the Organic Articles. It was also an attempt to prevent any more religious strife in French cities[citation needed]. For example, Article 45 states,“In cities where there are temples dedicated to different religions, no religious ceremony is to take place outside of the buildings consecrated for Catholic worship.”[2] In towns with adherents of differentdogmas, public processions were prohibited.
Title I – “Of the governance of the Catholic Church in its general relations with the rights and the police of the state”, required the authorisation of the Government for the publication and execution of a papal document in France.[1]
Title II – “Of the Ministers” declared the power ofministers and regulated public worship, stating that rules and regulations ofseminaries must be presented to the State, the number of those to be ordained must be fixed yearly by the Government, andcurés of important parishes cannot be appointed by the bishop without the consent of the State.[1]
Title III – “Of the forms of worship” explained not only restriction of public processions, but the proper clerical dress code, instructing,"All ecclesiastics will be dressed in the French manner in black."[2] It forbade public processions in towns where there are adherents of different creeds, and it prescribed that there shall be only one catechism for all the churches of France. TheImperial Catechism taught that love, respect, and obedience to the emperor were religious obligations.[3]
Title IV – “Of the circumscription of the archbishoprics, bishoprics and parishes, of the buildings intended for worship and of the salaries for the ministers” specified boundaries for thejurisdictions ofbishops and the amounts of their salaries.
The Articles allowed the use of church bells, but put this under the joint jurisdiction of the bishop and the prefect. The government exercised control over religious holidays. The Feast of the Assumption (August 15) was one of the holidays retained. It also happened to be Napoleon's birthday.[3]
These articles were largely similar to the Catholic regulations; Protestants favoured parts of the Articles preventing Catholic domination in France. TheCalvinist community, a variety of ProtestantChristianity, was divided into congregations of adherents governed by clerical leaders appointed by wealthy or powerful taxpayers. Parallel to the Articles relative to Catholicism, the pastors were salaried by the State, and following this, a Calvinistrevival was held by the Protestants.
According toNicholas Atkin:
"Ostensibly these dealt with the policing arrangements referred to in Article 1, but in practice they went much further. Government approbation was required before papal pronunciations could be published, councils convoked, new parishes established and chapels set up. A uniform catechism was introduced, church weddings could not precede the civil ceremony, cathedral chapters were reduced to merely ceremonial function and the powers of papal delegates were severely circumscribed. Any breach of the articles was treated as a criminal offence and was referred to the Council of State.... Although it was not specifically referred to in the Organic Articles, the creation of a Ministry of Cults in 1801 reinforced a drive towards government oversight of ecclesiastical matters."[4]
The Organic Articles read as a list of solutions to past problems in France, such as clerical abuses andsectarian altercations, and was also concerned by the Catholic Church to be a subtle attempt by the State to gain further control of the Church. Napoleon sought to allow the right amount of Catholicism, but not a large amount, in order to prevent further rebellion from the Protestants, therefore issuing of the Organic Articles was considered to be a fault in French Catholicism. Although it restricted specific religious practices in France, it partially allowed other religious freedoms yet still remained in favour of the State. A limited or regulated amount of worship was given, or simply enough to pray for theRepublic. Minor issues were addressed in the Articles, but peace betweentheological controversies was not achieved.
The Concordat was presented to Pope Pius VII for a signature of approval, along with Napoleon’s attachment of the Organic Articles, which somewhat abates parts of the Concordat. ThePope protested against the Organic Articles, saying he had no knowledge of Napoleon's attachment at the time of the agreement, but the protest was in vain. Finally, Pius was humiliated and defeated by the publishing of the Articles. This raised more difficulties for the Pope than solved them.[5]
Though Pius' disapproval was disregarded by Napoleon, many of the Articles eventually became adead letter. The obscurities of many of them were later shown to be irrelevant, and the need to enforce the laws was unnecessary.
In1905, the French law was issued declaring theseparation of church and state in France. This abolished the Organic Articles along with the Concordat of 1801.[6] However, in the departments of Alsace and Moselle, in 1905 not part of France, the organic articles remain in power (seelocal law in Alsace-Moselle).
