' is an apostolic constitution in the form of a papal bull promulgated by

Pope Alexander VII Pope Alexander VII ( it, Alessandro VII; 13 February 159922 May 1667), born Fabio Chigi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 April 1655 to his death in May 1667. He began his career as a vice- papal legate, an ...

in 1656 which judged the meaning and intention of

Cornelius Jansen Cornelius Jansen (, ; Latinized name Cornelius Jansenius; also Corneille Jansen; 28 October 1585 – 6 May 1638) was the Dutch Catholic bishop of Ypres_in_Flanders.html" ;"title="atholic-Hierarchy]/ref> Its seat was Saint Martin's Cathedra ...

's words in '' Augustinus'', and confirmed and renewed the condemnation in ' promulgated by

Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X ( la, Innocentius X; it, Innocenzo X; 6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death in January ...

in 1653 that five propositions found in ''Augustinus'' were

heretical Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

. That same year, 1656, sixty

Jansenist Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...

doctors, including

Antoine Arnauld Antoine Arnauld (6 February 16128 August 1694) was a French Catholic theologian, philosopher and mathematician. He was one of the leading intellectuals of the Jansenist group of Port-Royal and had a very thorough knowledge of patristics. Contem ...

, were degraded from the

College of Sorbonne The College of Sorbonne (french: Collège de Sorbonne) was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1253 (confirmed in 1257) by Robert de Sorbon (1201–1274), after whom it was named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, ...

faculty of theology. French bishops supported Alexander VII. Michael O'Riordan wrote, in ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'', that since some still insisted that those propositions were not to be found in ''Augustinus'', or were not meant by Jansen in the sense in which they were condemned, ' furthermore declared that they are contained in ''Augustinus'', and have been condemned according to the sense of the author. Alexander VII continued this condemnation in ', promulgated in 1665 which required, according to the ''

Enchiridion symbolorum The ''Enchiridion'' (full title: ''Enchiridion symbolorum, definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum'') is a compendium of all the basic texts on Catholic dogma and morality since the Apostolic Age. It has been in use since 1854, and ...

'', "all ecclesiastical personnel and teachers" to subscribe to an included '' formulary'', the ''Formula of Submission for the Jansenists'', by rejecting and condemning the five propositions contained in ''Augustinus''. Jansenism was condemned as heretical, by the Catholic Church, in at least four documents: ', ', ', and '.

References

Apostolic constitutions Documents of Pope Alexander VII Jansenism Latin texts Religion in the Ancien Régime 1656 in Christianity 1656 works 17th-century papal bulls {{RC-document-stub

See also

References