Christ's Faithful People
Christ's Faithful People
1758 - 1769 AD
Storm signals were flying as the cardinals met in conclave on May 15, 1758. The spirit of the age which frowned on religious orders and papal control had entered the courts of the Catholic kings. A strong pope was needed, but the Powers wanted a compliant one. When France vetoed the capable Cardinal Cavalchini, the conclave chose Carlo Rezzonico. Rezzonico unwillingly accepted and chose to be called Clement XIII. Rezzonico was known to be good and capable, but somewhat timid and indecisive. What the Powers did not take into consideration was the man's deep spirituality. Timid perhaps by nature he was fearless when principle was at stake.
Carlo Rezzonico was born at Venice on March 7, 1693, of a noble family. Educated by the Jesuits at Bologna, he took his degree in law at Padua. In the papal service Carlo rose steadily. He became cardinal-deacon in 1737, bishop of Padua in 1743, and cardinal-priest in 1747. As bishop he distinguished himself by his spiritual leadership. He held an important synod in 1746, and he issued a beautiful pastoral on the priestly life.
Clement XIII had to face the terrible onslaught of the Catholic powers on the Jesuits. This order, with its fourth vow of special obedience to the Pope and its insistence on solid Christian education, was a cinder in the eye of "enlightened" despots and their ministers. As followers of a false "enlightenment" they were offended by the Jesuits' staunch Christianity; as believers in the all-powerful state, they objected to an order so devoted to the Pope. Regalists and Jansenists, Gallicans, and infidels found one common hate--the Jesuits.
The opening gun of the anti-Jesuit attack was fired by Carvalho, the powerful minister of weak King Joseph of Portugal. In 1759, with great brutality, he suppressed the order in Portugal. Clement XIII objected, but his remonstrances only provoked a rupture of diplomatic relations between Portugal and the Vatican. France suppressed the Society of Jesus in 1763 and Spain drove the Jesuits out in 1767. Spain's puppets, the king of Naples and the duke of Parma followed suit. Parma's action, coupled with other anticlerical decrees, especially irritated Clement XIII because the Pope was rightfully the suzerain of Parma. Consequently the courageous Clement issued a monitorium declaring the Parma decrees null and void. This act of justice aroused the despots to frenzy. France seized the papal territory of Avignon. Naples took Benevento. Then in a joint note the Bourbon and Portuguese courts bluntly and forcefully demanded that the Pope withdraw his monitorium and suppress the Society of Jesus.
Greatly upset by these broils, Clement's health gave way and on February 7, 1769, the brave but gentle Pope died. Clement XIII has been called the eighteenth-century Hildebrand, and he deserves the title. While Clement's memory is held in honor by all who admire courage and adherence to principle, it is especially revered by Catholics because Clement XIII is the pope who, against much opposition, established the beautiful feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
