In the ongoing smear-campaign against Eugene an article of Martin-Lazare had been published on July 10 in the anti-religious S\u00e9maphore newspaper. It claimed that Cardinal Pacca, who was the Pope\u2019s Secretary of State, had written to the Bishop of Icosia to reprimand him for how terrible his administration of the diocese of Marseilles had been.<\/p>\n
Eugene writes to Henri Tempier, who was Vicar General of the diocese:<\/p>\n
\nHowever absurd the article you have forwarded to me may be, I wouldn\u2019t have thought it wise to leave it unanswered. You had the evidence that the writer was a police connection, since you had in truth received a letter addressed to me from Cardinal Pacca and only the police could have given him this information.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The author of the article had been informed of a letter arriving from the Cardinal and used the opportunity to invent a malicious story about its contents. Eugene proposed:<\/p>\n
\nBut by letting it be known that the content of the letter was full of kindness, as are all His Eminence\u2019s letters, you would be laying a charge of flagrant calumny against the article\u2019s worthless author, and so that everyone might have the opportunity of learning the truth, after having read it to the Gazette, you would deposit the original at the secretariat in the Bishop\u2019s Palace with instructions to show it to all who want to see it.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Henri Tempier, 13&14 July 1835, EO VIII n 522<\/em><\/p>\n
Eugene\u2019s life and actions had always been a witness to the words of Jesus: \u201cThe truth will set you free\u201d – John 8:31.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the ongoing smear-campaign against Eugene an article of Martin-Lazare had been published on July 10 in the anti-religious S\u00e9maphore newspaper. It claimed that Cardinal Pacca, who was the Pope\u2019s Secretary of State, had written to the Bishop of Icosia … Continue reading