I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1342 The Papal Review Committee Arrives in Paris

noon the next day.

In the dining room of the Petit Trianon, Queen Mary put down her napkin, looked at her son sitting opposite her, and said casually, "My dear, I heard that the tax office has proposed that they collect the tithe on your behalf."

Joseph swallowed the nut shortbread and nodded. "That's true, Mother."

Queen Mary smiled and said, "Well, I don't mean to interfere with your decision, I just wanted to ask how you plan to handle this matter?"

Joseph looked at the court officials and servants around him. They immediately bowed and withdrew.

He then said to his mother, "It was I who asked Mr. Robespierre to propose the bill. To be honest, the tithe should have been collected by the government long ago."

Queen Mary nodded, but did not directly dissuade her. Over the years, countless facts had taught her that when her ideas conflicted with her son's, it was best to listen to him.

She hesitated for a moment, took a small sip of wine, and couldn't help but say, "But this would greatly weaken the Church's support for the monarchy. You know, for hundreds of years, the Church and the King have always been the closest allies."

“It used to be so,” Joseph said solemnly. “Especially in the ignorant years, everyone firmly believed that ‘the king is God’s agent on earth’ and ‘no authority comes from God.’

"But although people today are still outwardly devout to God, they usually read the books of Rousseau and Voltaire and discuss nationalism, freedom and equality."

"Yes, there are still many people at the bottom of society who believe in the Church's doctrines, especially those who have never been to school. But believe me, it won't be long before they start seriously asking priests, 'Is all of this true?' or 'Why does God favor the king?'"

"And then what happens? When the church stammers and can't answer these questions, especially when the country is in trouble, people will retaliate twice over for past deceptions, for example, with the blood of the king."

Queen Mary immediately thought of poor Charles I—who tried to rely on the Catholic Church but was still beheaded by a mob.

Joseph continued, “You know, the nobles of today, and all those who are capable and learned, firmly believe in calculus and the conservation of energy, that the earth is just a speck of dust in the universe, in financial curves, and in steel and gunpowder!”

"The church is gradually becoming a thief who reaps without sowing in their eyes."

"Yes, we can strictly prohibit the spread of Enlightenment ideas, and even prohibit most people from going to school. The influence of the Church may last for decades, but this will cause us to be quickly defeated in competition with other countries."

"Before people even begin to doubt the Church, other major powers will use their advanced technology and powerful productivity to turn France into a meal on their tables!"

Queen Mary sighed and remained silent.

Joseph rose and walked to her side, speaking gently, “You need not worry. What we rely on is the support of the people. This is far more stable and reliable than going through the church.”

"The future belongs to technological advancements and the flow of capital, not the prayers of priests. The foundation of the future is more and more factories, not luxurious monasteries."

He glanced at his mother's somewhat melancholy expression and quickly comforted her:
"Of course, this does not mean that we will no longer serve God devoutly. On the contrary, the fact that the priests are away from worldly affairs will only allow God to shine more light on France."

“People will become more devout, and the gospel of the Lord will spread further and further…” Queen Marie Antoinette nodded gently, made the sign of the cross on her chest, and stood up to hug her son: “I believe you are right. May God bless France forever.”

When Joseph left the Petit Trianon, he felt incredibly relieved.

Having plugged the "gap" with his mother, a devout Catholic, his church reform plan would be free of any worries.

Upon returning to his palace, he immediately and solemnly summoned Archbishop Briand and Count Segur, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, demanding that they draft a strongly worded note protesting the Vatican's "unauthorized" dispatch of a review committee to France.

However, three days later, when Briand and Segur presented the note to the Crown Prince for his signature, under the watchful eyes of the church's high-ranking officials, they were informed that His Highness had departed for Baden the previous day to inspect the construction of the Kehl railway bridge—reportedly, a construction accident had occurred at the bridge, killing hundreds of people, fortunately most of whom were Russian prisoners of war. But given the crucial connection between France and southern Germany, the Crown Prince took the matter extremely seriously.

Brian had no choice but to personally take the documents and travel by train to catch up with the Crown Prince.

Perhaps he had been having some bad luck lately, because on the afternoon of the day he was about to depart, he caught a bad cold and reportedly had a fever of 39 degrees Celsius, so his trip was delayed.

Well, actually Joseph gave him a week off and told him to stay home and do nothing.

Just as Archbishop Tours and others were about to visit Archbishop Briand, the first batch of examiners sent by the Vatican's review committee arrived in Paris.

Because these people carried a decree personally signed by the Pope, the French church leadership, despite their dissatisfaction, had no choice but to reluctantly receive them.

Immediately afterwards, these examiners became increasingly arrogant and actually began to examine the French clergy. The first list of examinees consisted of 52 people, including one archbishop and four priests.

The Archbishop of Boulogne, who was notified to take the exam, arrogantly skipped it and refused to take a make-up exam.

Just three days later, the review committee issued a decree from the Vatican signed by the Pope!
The clergy throughout Paris were immediately shocked.

They all thought the Vatican's so-called "punishment" was just talk, a way to show the Vatican's authority through the assessment, but they never expected that they would actually be punished!

It's important to understand that while the Vatican only has nominal jurisdiction over the French Church, this nominal jurisdiction is still crucial, since the ordination, priesthood, and even theological writings of all clergy members must be approved by the Vatican to be valid.

Once someone receives a disciplinary action from the Vatican, it's essentially a declaration of "political death" within the religious community. They can forget about ever holding a proper priesthood again and will be ridiculed everywhere.

Archbishop Boulogne hurriedly apologized to the examiner and secretly bribed him to regain the opportunity to retake the exam, and the committee temporarily withdrew the disciplinary order.

Meanwhile, the Paris church leadership was urgently requesting Archbishop Briand to send someone else to deliver the note to His Highness the Dauphin—as long as the Dauphin gave the order, the Paris police could immediately drive those despicable papal censors out of Paris, and the Pope certainly wouldn't dare to object.

However, Archbishop Briand, who was extremely responsible, said from his sickbed that he would not trust anyone else to handle such an important matter, and then, despite his high fever, he ordered his servants to prepare a carriage.

(End of this chapter)