In order to understand some of the positions taken by Eugene, we must remember that the Church in France after the Revolution was in a state of disorder. Many priests and religious had been killed, others had fled outside of the country, and others had remained in France and cooperated with the very authorities who had set out to destroy the Roman Catholic Church. When Napoleon assumed absolute power he wanted the right to appoint the bishops of France. Pope Pius VII refused, and he was consequently imprisoned by the Emperor.
Not being able to “create” bishops, Napoleon then took already existing ones and moved them to the dioceses of his choice. The Archdiocese of Aix was one of these, and Napoleon sent the Bishop of Metz to take over the Archdiocese. Eugene had strong feelings about Napoleon’s usurping the authority of the Pope. Leflon describes an incident in Aix en Provence:
At a formal dinner during which a venerable Canon erroneously kept calling Monseigneur Jauffret “Archbishop,” Eugene, rising to his feet, declared,
“Monseigneur, I protest the use of this title; and I feel sure that you do also. If not, I shall feel obliged to leave the table and withdraw, for I cannot be a party to schism.”
One can easily imagine the stunned silence that followed this protest. Very calmly, and not without a certain amount of courage, Bishop Jauffret immediately answered, “Father de Mazenod is correct. I certainly am not the Archbishop of Aix; I am merely its capitulary administrator.”
In spite of Eugene’s rebuff which the Bishop handled gracefully, relations between the two men were always congenial. Much against his will, and only because of the express order of the Emperor, Bishop Jauffret had come to Provence a year after Napoleon had appointed him, and even then, it was only with the hope that he would obtain canonical approval.
J. Leflon, “Eugene de Mazenod…” Volume 1, p. 404 – 405
The Bishop had been gracious in his response, but the newly-ordained Eugene’s intransigence and public outburst earned him the criticism of some of the local priests.
I think that this is exactly what we are called to do today – when we witness a wrong taking place we are called to speak out against it and to not take part in it. It takes courage and conviction, both of which Eugene had. Interesting to note that Bishop Jauffret also had the courage to agree with Eugene and remain cordial with him.