Bishops

De l'Election et de ta nomination des Evêques 1831

This work was the first book published by Guéranger. The July Revolution of 1830 was of great significance for the Church. Catholicism was no longer recognised as the official religion of the State but as the religion of the majority of the French people. This change in status raised the question of the right of the State to interfere in the nomination of bishops. A similar issue had arisen in 1807 when Napoleon Bonaparte had taken upon himself the responsability for the nomination of bishops. In order to oppose this act, the de Lamennais brothers spent six years preparing their three volume work La Tradition de l'Eglise sur l'institution des évêques published in 1814. Guéranger was not unaware of the parallel between the work of the Master and his own work. A large part of this work is concerned with showing the traditional position of the bishop in the history of the Church. Its basic argument is ultramontane in colour. The State has no right to nominate bishops and the solution to this problem for the Church in France is to appeal to Rome and by so doing assert the rights of the successor of Peter. The significance of this work lies in the fact that it shows Guéranger's awareness of the importance of tradition and reflects the ultramontane views which he held during his formative years prior to the foundation of Solesmes.