François de Bonal (b. May 9, 1734 at the castle of Bonal, near

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department ...

; d. in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, September 5, 1800) was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

and figure in the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

Life

Bonal became a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

at Chalons-upon-the-Saone, then Vicar-General of the

diocese of Agen The Diocese of Agen (Latin: ''Dioecesis Agennensis''; French: ''Diocèse d'Agen'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Diocese of Agen comprises the ''département'' of Lot-et-Garonne, in t ...

and Director of the Carmelite nuns in France, before being made

Bishop of Clermont The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Clermont (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Claromontana''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Clermont'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Puy-d ...

in 1776. In the 1780s, he passed an unpopular decree prohibiting the priests of his diocese from preaching without his authorization. On the eve of the

, as Bonal was warning his diocesans against the license of the press, showing the evil consequences to France.Sollier, Joseph. "François de Bonal." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 30 June 2023 In his pastoral letters, he denounced "the mortal poison of an impious philosophy which is spreading among us." He went as an episcopal delegate to the

Estates-General of 1789 The Estates General of 1789 was a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobility (Second Estate), and the commoners (Third Estate). It was the last of the Estates General of the Kingdom o ...

by the clergy of the bailiwick of Clermont, and subsequently to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

, where he led the religious coalition, arguing that "the principles of the French Constitution depend on religion as their eternal basis," and that Christianity was aligned with, not opposed to, good citizenship. In 1790, he led most of the episcopal delegates in refusing to vote on the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, claiming that a lay assembly did not have the authority to make the ecclesiastical reforms involved. In addition to opposing various measures to reduce the power of the Catholic Church, Bonal also opposed granting citizenship to French Jews. To

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

, who spoke of the "God of peace," he replied that the God of peace was also the God of order and justice. From his prison

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

sent for his opinion as to whether he should receive

Paschal Paschal is used as a name. Paschal, a variant of Pascal, from Latin ''Paschalis'', is an adjective describing either the Easter or Passover holidays. People known as Paschal include: Popes and religious figures * Antipope Paschal (687), a riv ...

Communion. In reply, he was sympathetic, but advised the monarch to abstain "for having sanctioned decrees destructive of religion". Bonal was alluding chiefly to the civil constitution of the clergy. Having declined to take the loyalty oath to the constitution, Bonal was exiled from France in 1792. He passed to

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

and later to

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

. Arrested at

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...

by the French, he was tried at Breda, and condemned to deportation. He succeeded in making his escape and went to Altona, and spent the last years of his life in various cities of Germany. He was the author of a ''Testament spirituel''."Bonal, Francois De", ''The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature''. (James Strong and John McClintock, eds.) Harper and Brothers; NY; 1880
/ref>

References

Sources

*Feller, ''Biographie Universelle'' (Paris, 1866) *De GreveCoeur, ''Journal d'Andrien Duquesnoy'' (Paris, 1804) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonal, Francois de 1734 births 1800 deaths Bishops of Clermont