Recoiling from the suggestion that he accept to be bishop of a diocese, Eugene appeals to two arguments: he no longer has the energy to administer a diocese, and that he has the responsibility of Superior General of the Oblates.<\/p>\n
\nClearly your friendship is leading you astray in your hope of making peace all round through the use of a method that would be disastrous for me. My career is over; I have neither the strength nor the flexibility to embark on another where it wouldn\u2019t be long before I were submerged in every kind of sorrow, compensated by precious few consolations.<\/strong><\/h5>\n
All my reflections lead me to the conclusion that I cannot in conscience accept a diocese if one were offered me. What a following I would have gathered if I offered the least hint to the contrary! This conviction is so rooted in me that nothing short of a formal command from the Head of the Church would suffice to overcome my justifiable distaste, and then I would be condemned to a most unhappy life, and one which would certainly be cut short on account of the continual violence that I would have to do to myself. To this repugnance are added reasons of conscience which ought to distance me from any diocese, which would necessarily entail a double responsibility for me.<\/strong><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Letter to Henri Tempier, 23 August 1835, EO VIII n 536<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recoiling from the suggestion that he accept to be bishop of a diocese, Eugene appeals to two arguments: he no longer has the energy to administer a diocese, and that he has the responsibility of Superior General of the Oblates. … Continue reading