Concordat of 1801

The First Consul of the French Republic and His Holiness the Sovereign Pontiff Pius VII have appointed as their respective plenipotentiaries:. ..

Who, after the exchange of their respective full powers, have agreed the following convention:

CONVENTION BETWEEN THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT AND HIS HOLINESS PIUS VII.

The Government of the French Republic recognizes that the Roman, Catholic and Apostolic religion is the religion of the great majority of French citizens.

His Holiness likewise recognizes that this same religion has derived and in this moment again expects the greatest benefit and grandeur from the establishment of the Catholic worship in France and from the personal profession of it which the Consuls of the Republic make.

In consequence, after this mutual recognition, as well for the benefit of religion as for the maintenance of internal tranquility, the have agreed as follows:

1. The Catholic, Apostolic and Roman religion shall be freely exercised in France: its worship shall be public, and in conformity with the police regulations which the Government shall deem necessary for the public tranquility.

2. A new circumscription of the French dioceses shall be made by the Holy See in concert with the Government.

3. His Holiness shall declare to the titular French bishops that he with firm confidence expects from them, for the benefit of peace and unity, every sort of sacrifice, even that of their sees.

After this exhortation, if they should refuse this sacrifice required for the welfare of the Church (a refusal which His Holiness, nevertheless, does not expect), a provision shall be made for the government of the bishoprics of the new circumscription by new titularies in the following manner:

4. The First Consul of the Republic shall make appointments, within the three months which shall follow the publication of the bull of His Holiness, to the archbishoprics and bishoprics of the new circumscription. His Holiness shall confer the canonical institution, following the forms established in relation to France before the change of Government.

5. The nominations to the bishoprics which shall be vacant in the future shall likewise be made by the First Consul and the canonical institution shall be given by the Holy See, in conformity with the preceding article.

6. Before entering upon their functions, the bishops shall take directly, at the hands of the First Consul, the oath of fidelity which was in use before the change of Government, expressed in the following terms:

"I swear and promise to God, upon the Holy Scriptures, to remain in obedience and fidelity to the Government established by the constitution of the French Republic. I also promise not to have any intercourse, nor to assist by any counsel, nor to support any league, either within or without, which is inimical to the public tranquility; and if, within my diocese or elsewhere, I learn that anything to the prejudice of the State is being contrived, I will make it known to the Government."

7. The ecclesiastics of the second rank shall take the same oath at the hands of the civil authorities designated by the Government.

8. The following form of prayer shall be repeated at the end of divine service in all the Catholic churches of France: Domine, salvam fac Rempublicam; Domine, salvos fac Consules.

9. The bishops shall make a new circumscription of the parishes of their dioceses, which shall have effect only after the consent of the Government.

10. The bishops shall appoint the cures.

11. The bishops can have a chapter in their cathedrals and a seminary for their dioceses, without the Government being under obligation to endow them.

12. All the metropolitan, cathedral, parochial and other non-alienated churches needed for worship shall be again placed at the disposal of the bishops.

13. His Holiness, in the interest of peace and the happy re-establishment of the Catholic religion, declares that neither he nor his successors will disturb in any manner the purchasers of the alienated ecclesiastical estates, and that, in consequence, the ownership of these same estates, the rights and revenues attached to them, shall be indefeasible in their hands and in those of their assigns.

14. The Government shall settle a suitable stipend upon the bishops and cures whose dioceses and parishes shall be included in the new circumscription.

15. The Government shall likewise take measures in order that French Catholics, if they desire, may act in favor of church foundations.

16. His Holiness recognizes in the First Consul of the French Republic the same rights and prerogatives which the old Government before it enjoyed.

17. It is agreed between the contracting parties that in case any one of the successors of the present First Consul shall not be Catholic, the rights and prerogatives mentioned in the article above and the nomination to bishoprics shall be regulated, as regards him, by a new convention.

The ratifications shall be exchanged at Paris within the space of forty days.

Done at Paris, 26 Messidor, Year IX.