Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Arles
At the apex of the delta (Camargue) of the Rhone River, some 40 miles from the sea, Arles grew under Liburnian, Celtic, and Punic influences, until, in 46 B.C., a Roman military veteran colony was founded there by Tiberius Claudius Nero, under instructions from Julius Caesar.
[4] The Archbishopric of Arles was suppressed again by Pius VII on 6 October 1822 in the bull "Paternae Charitatis", carrying out the commitments he had made in the apostolic letter to Louis XVIII in 1817.
The two papal legates were compelled to reject communion with Athanasius, but the council refused to condemn Arius, an act which deeply disturbed the pope.
[13] Between 475 and 480 another council was called by Archbishop Leontius, attended by thirty bishops, in which the teachings of the priest Lucidus on pre-destination were condemned.
Close inspection of their dioceses is urged on the bishops, as a remedy against the spread of heresy; testaments are declared invalid unless made in the presence of the parish priest.
[24] In 1251, Archbishop Jean Baussan (1233–1258)of Arles, held a provincial council near Avignon (Concilium Insculanum),[25] six of his suffragan bishops being present, and two absent.
The Provost sent his procurator along with two canons representing the Chapter to the papal court, where Pope Urban IV (Jacques Pantaléon of Troyes) was living in exile from Rome.
Instead, he chose to transfer the bishop of Akko-Ptolemais (Acre), Florentius,[28] who had carried out useful work there and provided good example in the midst of many troubles.
[29] In 1263, a council held by Archbishop Florentinus decreed that the sacrament of confirmation must be received while fasting; and that on Sundays and feast days the religious orders should not open their churches to the faithful, nor preach at the hour of the parish Mass.
[31] In 1275, twenty-two earlier observances were promulgated anew at a provincial Council of Arles, held by Archbishop Bernard de Languissel (1274–1281).
[33] Archbishop Guillaume de La Garde (1361–1374) presided at a regional council of the ecclesiastical provinces of Arles, Embrun, and Aix; it was held in the cathedral of Apt from 14 to 30 May 1365.
[35] On 1 February 1324, Archbishop-elect Jean Baussan authorized the Franciscan Provincial of Provence to construct a church, a religious house, and a cemetery at Salon (Sallonis) on land donated by Pierre Baston.
[40] Conzié assisted at the deathbed of Clement VII on 16 September 1394, and was reappointed Chamberlain S. R. E. by Pope Benedict XIII (Avignon Obedience).
In 1633, Archbishop Jean Jaubert de Barrault (1630–1643) assigned the church of S. Vincent to the Jesuits, along with the priest's residence, where they established themselves until the college was opened.
On 13 January 1408, it was announced that if the church were not returned again to the rule of a single pope by Ascension Day, then the kingdom of France would take the position of neutrality among the contenders, that is, rejecting the Obedience of Benedict XIII.
[48] Stimulated by Charles VI's announcement, Florence, Siena, and Venice immediately began discussion about joining the party of neutrality, that is, about rejecting the Obedience of Gregory XII.
[51] The fifth session of the council, on 5 June 1409, excommunicated and anathematized both Gregory XII and Benedict XIII as notorious schismatics, heretics, and perjurers.
[52] When the electors of Bishop Paul de Sade of Marseille to be archbishop of Arles requested his confirmation, it was not Benedict XIII to whom they applied, since he had been rejected both by the king of France and by the Council of Pisa.
[60] On 12 July 1790, the Constituent Assembly legislated the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, a document which completely nationalized the Catholic Church in France, and separated it entirely from the government of the Papacy.
[62] Bishops, and priests as well, were to be elected, in the same manner as representatives to the departmental assembly, that is, by specially qualified citizens, who did not have to be clerics, or even Christians; a bishop-elect must not apply to the pope for confirmation.
[65] After repeated attempts to convince King Louis XVI not to sign the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, Pope Pius VI finally addressed the urgent requests of one bishop after another to intervene.
On 13 April 1791, he issued the apostolic letter "Charitas quae," which condemned both the Civil Constitution as heretical and schismatic, and constructed specifically to destroy the Catholic Church,[66] and the oath[67] which was being used to harass those who refused to take it.
[70] In the meantime, the two deposed archbishops devoted their energies to rallying their non-juring clergy, and the inhabitants of the "Bouches du Rhone," a large number of whom were hostile to the policies and excesses of the government in Paris.
The directors of the department, noted for their anticatholic attitudes, became aware of the archbishops' activities, and on 16 November 1791 wrote to the ecclesiastical committee in Paris and to the National Assembly that they were organizing a counter-revolutionary movement with a view to civil war.
[73] Archbishop de Lau of Arles was in Paris that summer, in connection with an address which he had written to persuade the king not to sign the law of 29 May.
Incriminating papers were found in his rooms, and he was therefore sent that evening to the church of the Carmelites, where there were already some sixty clerics incarcerated, and put on a diet of bread and water.
