The newspaper was acquired by Charles de Montalembert in 1838 and, starting in 1840 under the direction of Louis Veuillot, a sharp and skilled polemicist, became the mouthpiece of the "Catholic Party."

Ultramontane in orientation and supportive of the temporal power of the Pope, it opposed the Italian policies of Napoleon III and was banned under the Second French Empire.

Initially named L'Univers religieux, the newspaper was founded in November 1833 by Abbé Jacques-Paul Migne, the publisher of the Patrologia Latina.

Although the newspaper had a dedicated team, including Frédéric Ozanam and correspondents such as Nicholas Wiseman in London, it struggled to gain traction.

In frustration, Montalembert wrote to a friend: "If L'Univers lacks interest and vigor, where does that come from, if not from the fact that Catholics in France do nothing but sit idle and watch as if it were a play, rather than descending into the arena to defend their most precious assets.

However, Veuillot's combative tone alienated both Gallican clergy and the Vatican, leading to frequent seizures of the newspaper within the Papal States.

The passage of the Falloux Law in 1850, which granted secondary education freedom in France, marked the end of the "Catholic Party" unity.