Clement XIII, XIV, and Pius VI – Mariology in the Enlightenment and the French Revolution (Doctrina Pontificia IV, nn. 221-231)
The popes of the second half of the eighteenth century, Clement XIII (1758-1769), Clement XIV (1769-1774), and Pius VI (1775-1799), faced the challenges of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, which attacked not only the papacy but Marian devotion as a manifestation of “superstition.” Their Marian documents are, in part, a response to this cultural challenge.
| Collection | Doctrina Pontificia IV: Marian Documents, nn. 221-231 |
| Popes | Clement XIII (1758-1769) | Clement XIV (1769-1774) | Pius VI (1775-1799) |
| Period | 1758-1799 (the Enlightenment and the French Revolution) |
Clement XIII (1758-1769), nn. 221-224
The pontificate of Clement XIII is marked by the expulsion of the Jesuits (which would be carried out by his successor) and by the rise of the anti-religious Enlightenment. His four Marian documents are:
- n. 221, Bull “Quantum ornamenti” (November 8, 1760): On Mary’s spiritual ornaments and her intercession for the Church in times of tribulation
- n. 222, Brief “Cum primum” (January 17, 1761): Privileges of the Carmelite Scapular
- n. 223, Brief “Commissi” (March 16, 1767): Marian devotion in the missions
- n. 224, Brief “Eximia pietatis” (March 14, 1768): Marian celebration in new dioceses
Clement XIV (1769-1774), n. 225: “Ratio pastoralis”
Clement XIV, the pope who suppressed the Society of Jesus (1773), is paradoxically one of the most Marian popes of the eighteenth century. The Brief Ratio pastoralis (November 21, 1769) states that devotion to Mary is inseparable from authentic Christian faith and that pastors must actively promote it in their dioceses.
Pius VI (1775-1799), nn. 226-231
Pius VI lived through the French Revolution, was imprisoned by the Napoleonic armies, and died a captive in Valence (1799). His six Marian documents show how, in times of persecution, the papacy had recourse to Mary as an anchor of hope. The Constitution Auctorem fidei (August 28, 1794), the most important document of Pius VI, condemns the Jansenist Synod of Pistoia, which had attacked numerous Marian devotions as “superstition”:
«Propositio quae statuit […] cultum Beatissimae Virginis Mariae eo sensu intelligendum esse, quasi ea esset adoratio… falsa, scandalosa, impia, propositio autem quae asserit Mariam esse Mediatricem […] pia et sana»
The proposition which states […] that the cult of the Most Holy Virgin Mary is to be understood in the sense of being adoration… is false, scandalous, impious; but the proposition which asserts that Mary is Mediatrix […] is pious and sound.
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