After being rebuffed by the editor of l’Univers, Louis Veuillot, Bishop Felix Dupanloup, the liberal Bishop of Orléans, plotted to obtain an ecclesiastical condemnation of nineteenth-century France’s most read Ultramontane paper.
On the pretext of quelling rumors about a “so-called division in the episcopate,” Bishop Dupanloup asked that all French bishops sign a document stating that newspapers could not criticize bishops’ actions. His letter also argued that using classics in youth education was neither harmful nor dangerous, provided the works were purged correctly. Any such purging, he argued, should be done exclusively by the bishop of each diocese. No writer or journalist should be allowed to interfere in that process.
Bishop Dupanloup’s statement contained nothing new. Therefore, it was superficially acceptable to any bishop. While it mentioned Msgr. Jean-Joseph Gaume’s thesis that reading pagan classics was harmful to school children, the statement did not delve into the heart of the classics question. The statement was not about whether one could use classics but rather whether they should have a primary role in secondary education or whether to introduce Christian classics on a large scale.
Given Bishop Dupanloup’s controversial relationship with l’Univers, the support of the other French bishops for this statement would imply condemnation of Veuillot.
Under the greatest secrecy, the Bishop of Orléans sent emissaries to those bishops who had so far taken no position on Msgr. Gaume’s thesis to obtain their adherence. His envoys had a mixed reception, and the whole issue became public. Bishop Dupanloup hastily wrote letters to his confreres, who hesitated or delayed answering. This act antagonized those unwilling to sign the document.
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For example, after receiving a third letter, Bishop Jean-Irénée Dépéry of Gap penned a full-throated defense of the traditionalist position.
“Excellency, I believe in God, creator of the universe, but I don’t believe in the good faith of those who want to destroy l’Univers.
“I believe in Jesus Christ, who established the Church with Christian doctors and not with the teachers of paganism.
“I believe in the communion of saints but do not want to belong to the circles of [the French secular journals] Gazette, Siècle, Débats, Presse, and Charivari.
“I believe in the resurrection of the dead, but I greatly fear that of Gallicans and parliamentarians.
“I believe in eternal life, but I do not desire that of the Elysian Fields, however beautifully the pagan poets describe it.
“In short, Your Excellency, I am for adopting Christian authors in a just proportion and renouncing masterpieces of Rome and Athens carefully purged of what they have—which is much—contrary to good morals and the Catholic Faith.”
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Thomas-Marie-Joseph Cardinal Gousset of Périgueux was alarmed by Bishop Dupanloup’s impending episcopal pronouncement. The cardinal, who supported Msgr. Gaume’s thesis, had not yet been consulted. He wrote Giacomo Cardinal Antonelli, Pius IX’s Secretary of State, asking that the Holy See intervene. At the same time, he sent a confidential circular letter to the French bishops, calling their attention to the danger of issuing that declaration.
“I have learned,” he wrote in the circular, “that certain emissaries of Bishop Dupanloup have presented themselves on his behalf in various dioceses. I do not know what they have proposed or requested. Still, I greatly fear that, on the pretext of avoiding disunity in the episcopate, he is dividing them by having some sign a document without the knowledge of others, perhaps to put them in opposition. Whatever his intention may have been, I foresee that the bishop of Orléans’s actions and negotiations will not produce results his zeal and piety could congratulate him on. These proceedings will not settle the question at hand definitively, and I dare say they should not have tried it.”
Bishop Dupanloup’s negotiations became public. News of the declaration completely supplanted the classic question. Rumor had it that the bishop of Orléans had obtained sixty signatures, and l’Univers would be condemned at any moment. However, the reality was quite different. The declaration completely divided the episcopate. A flood of confidential letters and memoirs circulated among the bishops. Yet, none publicly sided with the newspaper, so the prevailing impression was that Bishop Dupanloup’s strategm would succeed.
L’Univers’s enemies announced its doom with outbursts of jubilation. At the same time, no one publically defended the paper.
Veuillot saw that it was impossible to continue publishing a newspaper whose readers expected it to be condemned at any time. To avoid public failure, he decided to leave Paris. After preparing what he thought would be one of the final issues, he left for Vitry with his family, asking his brother Eugene to oversee l’Univers…
However, after Veuillot’s departure, the editorial office received a letter from Bishop Pierre-Louis Parisis of Arras, one of the most distinguished figures in the episcopate. The letter warmly praised and defended the newspaper. Eugene Veuillot hurriedly reworked the issue. The next day, l’Univers published the bishop’s letter.
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In a letter to his sister Elisa, Louis Veuillot tells how he learned about Bishop Parisis’ intervention.
“Happy Elisa, what do you lack in the world? You are in Bemay, and besides, we have sent you the letter from the bishop of Arras. I hope you are all happy. One of my joys was to think of everyone’s joy; I was as surprised as the others. I left for Vitry at 5, leaving the newspaper’s next issue ready. I had written letters to some sincere but powerless friends announcing my forthcoming death. I could see that everything was going badly for us and all ultramontanes in France, whom I accused of weakness.
“In Vitry, I met the parish priest of Saint Nicolas and spent the afternoon trying to show him that the matter would end well. The next day, we went to mass, and Matilde and I took communion in a spirit of submission. We went back home after our thanksgiving.
“They brought us the newspaper, and I opened it negligently to read miscellaneous news…and bang! Maud begins to cry! The famous letter had arrived with the afternoon mail and was sent to our office with as much joy as you can imagine.”
Veuillot ends by describing the “mad joy” that gripped everyone in the newsroom. L’Univers would not succumb to Bishop Dupanloup’s schemes.