LS in French, signed “Your very devoted son, Louis,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 7.5 x 9, July 25, 1763. Letter to “Our Very Holy Father the Pope [Clement XIV]”. In part (translated): “I have asked several bishops of My Kingdom…to examine the Pastoral Letter of the Bishop of Soissons…Following the example of the Kings, my predecessors, I will always glory in giving to the Holy Father the sincerest evidence of my veneration and filial attachment, but like my predecessors, I will also consider it among my strictest rights to maintain in all its integrity the doctrine held and taught at all times by the Bishops and Schools of my Kingdom. The maxims derived from this doctrine unite the double character of the civil and religious laws of my State, and I am obliged to point out to Your Holiness that it is a matter very close to my heart to see to it that they are observed, that I would consider anyone in France who might dare to infringe on them in the smallest way as someone unfaithful to His King and his country. This…in no way weakens the feelings of respect for the Holy Sea with which my heart is full and I esteem that there is nothing incompatible with my most ardent desire to see to it that the authority of the Head of the Church receive the obeisance and submission which are due him.
I could not be convinced, Very Holy Father, that the doctrine of the clergy of France in itself can have been the object or the reason for Your condemnation of the Pastoral Letter of Bishop of Soissons; and since I perceive nothing reprehensible in his expositions, I can only renew to you my complaints concerning the haste and the lack of consultation…in this affair. The Bishops of my Kingdom have never presumed to promulgate doctrine on Faith nor force foreign churches to submit to their teachings. They have even exercised great moderation not always emulated by the partisans of contrary opinions. It seems to me that the Bishop of Soissons has not exceeded these limitations…But he did refrain from censuring or criticizing opposing doctrines and that's what constitutes a most essential difference between the case of the Bishop of Soissons and the case before the Faculty of Theology of Paris in 1719, a difference which was undoubtedly not perceived by those who represented these two cases as similar to Your Holiness…(they) declared erroneous the doctrine which impugns the Maximes of France…the orders I gave…to safeguard in all its purity a doctrine I have always considered equally necessary for the honor of Religion as well as for the maintenance of my authority and public tranquility…I beg Your Holiness to be sure of two things: one, that the Bishops of My Kingdom will always know how to reconcile their duties as Bishops and as Frenchmen with their duty to the Holy Sea and the peace of the Church. Further, if this peace were ever troubled, it would be primarily by the condemnations that emanate from a tribunal which I do not recognize at all (the Holy Office), and which is equally contrary to the rights of the Episcopacy and of the Nation.” Accompanied by the letter’s outer address panel, addressed in an unknown hand and retaining its two intact red wax seals and tassels, showing the royal arms of France. In fine condition, with intersecting folds. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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