Austria - Josephism - 1765-1855
Under Pius VI (Angelo Braschi, 1775-1799), the enemies of the Church, whom his predecessor thought he had satisfied by sacrificing to them the Order of the Jesuits, began anew to harass the Apostolic See. The acutest sensibilities of the Pope were wounded, not only by temporal princes, but by deluded spiritual rulers.
The religious condition grew particularly sad in the hereditary States of the Empire. Even during the reign of the Empress Maria Theresa, the enlightenment of the day had been introduced into Austria, and had been encouraged by some prominent men, such as the Jansenist Van Swieten, the private royal physician and director of studies; the Abbot Kautenstrauch, a man lacking in the true ecclesiastical spirit; the ill-famed canonists Eybel and Pehem; and the vain and arrogant minister Von Kaunitz. The destructive tendencies of these erroneous principles soon manifested themselves.
So long, as the Empress Maria Theresa lived, the advocates of enlightenment could not carry out all of their anti-ecclesiastical innovations; but their prospects became more favorable under Joseph II (1780), a prince destitute of true piety, who did not possess the real talent of a ruler, but only sought to carry out what the frivolous craving for enlightenment had devised.
Joseph II of Austria (1765-1790), influenced by his minister Kaunitz, attempted to separate the Church from the pope and to change the ancient faith. The encroachments of the would-be reformer began by his issuing in rapid succession ordinances regarding the celebration of divine service, including the benedictions and usages of the Church, with regulations concerning processions, pilgrimages, burials, etc.; each succeeding regulation being meaner and more despotic than the preceding.
The anti-ecclesiastical sentiments of the imperial rubric-maker were still more distinctly manifested in his enactments respecting monasteries, especially in his suppression of those orders that were not occupied in taking care of the sick or in the education of youth; it was also shown in the Austrian monasteries in the separation of the communities from their "foreign " superiors. The emperor began a series of ecclesiastical innovations, suppressed 7,000 monasteries, containing 36,000 members, and destroyed magnificent works of science and art.
Joseph II issued ordinances regarding divine worship, regulated the number of candles to be used at service, commanded the use of the German language in the liturgy, prohibited the celebration of more than one Mass in the same church, at the same time, and forbade the making of pilgrimages and the promulgation of indulgences without his permission. He also placed penalties on the devotion of the Sacred Heart and the Way of the Cross. Frederick II of Prussia nicknamed him "Brother Sacristan."
Joseph II abolished several ecclesiastical impediments to matrimony, and introduced freedom of the press, thereby causing an overflow into Austria of frivolous and obscene foreign literature. He suppressed the diocesan seminaries and replaced them by general seminaries, in which "enlightened" professors taught gross infidelity and immorality to the students of theology. The emperor aimed to separate the Austrian church completely from Rome. Unfortunately many bishops lacked the courage to resist.
In 1782 Pope Pius VI. went in person to Vienna in the hope of averting the threatening calamity; but he was received at the imperial court, and particularly by the minister Kaunitz, in a very unworthy manner. He found, however, some compensation for this in the unfeigned love and enthusiasm with which he was greeted by the people. While the Pope was yet present in Vienna, Valentine Eybel published his insolent pamphlet "What is the Pope?" which was condemned by Pius in the bull "Super soliditate."
While the Austrian bishops thus quietly permitted the yoke of a State Church to be laid on their necks, the bishops of Belgium, with Cardinal Frankenberg, Archbishop of Malines, at their head, the States of Brabant, and the Catholic people protested against the innovations which were to be introduced there; but Joseph paid no heed to their representations, and when he sought by violent measures to attain his end, the whole country rose in insurrection1 against him. At the prayer of the emperor, Pius VI. called upon the inhabitants of Belgium to lay down their insubordinate preparations for revolt. But Joseph did not live to witness its suppression. He died on Feb. 20, 1790. He had desired to render his people happy; but in very fact, by his reforms, he brought nameless miseries upon his subjects, and drew upon himself the contempt and mockery of his infidel contemporaries. The emperor lived long enough to see the failure of his reforms and to regret them.
Following Joseph's example, the three ecclesiastical electors of Treves, Mainz and Cologne, fortunately without success, labored to promote the false enlightenment and to increase the confusion of the Church. At the Congress of Ems, in 1786, they drew up the notorious "Punctuation of Ems." In Tuscany, the Grand Duke Leopold tried to follow the example of his imperial brother, Joseph II, but did not succeed, owing to the loyalty of the clergy. He depended largely on Scipio Ricci, bishop of Pistoia, to realize his plans; but the acts of the Synod of Pistoia (1786) were condemned in the Bull Auctorem Fidei, and Scipio Ricci submitted to the decision of the pope.
The Emperor, Francis II (1792-1835), continuing his predecessor's policy of Josephism, nominated court favorites as bishops, and prevented free communication with the Holy See. Under Ferdinand I (1835-1848), the people showed a growing opposition to imperial interference with religion. The bishops defied the civil law which required priests to assist at the mixed marriages of parties refusing to promise Catholic training for their children. In 1840, this question was referred to Rome; and Gregory XVI allowed " negative assistance," that is, the presence of the priest as mere witness, all religious ceremony being omitted. In 1848, Ferdinand abdicated in favor of his son, Francis Joseph I (1848-1916), who extended the freedom of the Church. In 1855, a concordat with the Holy See practically destroyed Josephism, guaranteeing the rights of the Church in accord with Canon Law. Cardinal Rauscher was at the head of the Catholic movement that obtained this concession.
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