INDEPENDENT CATHOLIC SAINT?

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

BOOKS

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

BOOKS

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

BOOKS

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

BIASES, PROJECTIONS, PREJUDICES, OPINIONS

READING HISTORY
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

SETTING THE STAGE

▸ 1517 Martin Luther (1483-1546, nails his 95 theses on the

door of the church at Wittenberg, Electorate of Saxony:
The Protestant Reformation begins.

▸ 1521 Edict of Worms condemns Luther.

▸ 1530 Counter Reformation takes hold in the Roman

Catholic Church in reaction to the Reformation.

▸ 1534 Protestant Reformation arrives in France. Persecution

of Protestants begins under King Francis I (1515-1547).
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

SETTING THE STAGE

▸ 1537 English Reformation complete. King Henry VIII (1491-1547)
establishes the Church of England, separates from Rome.

▸ 1545 Council of Trent begins to discuss a response to the

Protestant Reformation.

▸ 1547 Henry II (1519-1559), comes to the throne in France,

establishes courts to try heretics.

▸ 1560 onwards Protestantism arrives in Holland, the Dutch

Reformed Church is established, takes over Roman Catholic
churches.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

SETTING THE STAGE

▸ 1563 Council of Trent ends.

▸ 1572 St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in France, August 24. As

many as 50,000 Protestants (Huguenots) are massacred. Many
begin fleeing to Prussia, Holland, England.

▸ 1585 Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638) is born.

▸ 1589 Religious wars in France end as King Henry VI

(1553-1610), himself a former Calvinist, signs the Edict of
Nantes, promising toleration of Protestants in France. In 1610,
he is assassinated by a catholic extremist.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

SETTING THE STAGE

▸ 1609 Abbey of Port Royal’s discipline is reformed by Mother
Marie Angelique Arnould (1591-1661). The Arnauld family
(Jansenists) become its patrons.

▸ 1638 Jansen dies.

▸ 1643 Louis the XIV (1638-1715), the self proclaimed “the Sun
King”) comes to the throne in France. Highpoint of French
monarchy. France becomes a major European colonial power.
Louis reverses the edict of Nantes and establishes Roman
Catholicism as the official religion of France. Jansenism spreads
under leadership of Antoine Arnould (1612-1694).
LOUIS XIV - THE SUN KING
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

SETTING THE STAGE

▸ 1648 Spain and the Holy Roman Empire recognize

Holland’s independence. Religious tolerance slowly
emerges in Holland.

▸ 1660 Under pressure from the Jesuits, Louis XIV closes

Abbey of Port Royal. Jansenists begin to flee to Holland.

▸ 1672 War between Holland and France begins.

▸ 1678 Marie-Dominique Varlet is born in Paris. War

between France and Holland ends.
1678-1742

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

PARENTS AND CHILDHOOD

▸ Born in March 1678.

▸ Father: Charles. Actor with connections to Troupe de

Moliere and Comedie-Francaise.

▸ Mother: Marie Vallee, considerably younger than her

husband, daughter of a hatter in Paris, actress in same
troupes as her husband. More religious. Attends St. Andre
des Arts parish in Paris with her son.

▸ 1682 “New France (Louisiana) comes under French control.

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

THE GALLICAN (FRENCH) CHURCH

▸ 1682 The Declaration of the Clergy of France is

proclaimed under Louis XIV, The Gallican Church
established.

▸ Though never agreed to by the pope, Gallicanism was the

theory that the power of monarchs is independent of the
power of popes, and that the church of each country
should be under the joint control of the pope and the
monarch. The opposite doctrine is known as
Ultramontanism.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

THE GALLICAN CHURCH

▸ According to Gallicanism, papal primacy was limited, first, by the
temporal power of princes; secondly by the authority of the general
council and bishops; and lastly, by the canons and customs of particular
Churches, which the pope was bound to take into account when he
exercised his authority.

▸ Kings of France had the right to assemble church councils in their

dominions.

▸ The pope required the king's consent to send papal legates into France.

▸ The pope could not issue dispensations "to the prejudice of the
laudable customs and statutes" of the French cathedral churches.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

THE GALLICAN CHURCH

▸ University of Notre Dame professor John McGreevy
defines it as "the notion that national customs might trump
Roman (Catholic Church) regulations."

▸ The doctrine originated in France (the term derives from

Gallia, Gaul). In the 18th century it spread to the Low
Countries, especially the Netherlands.

▸ Reinforces the conviction that local church authorities

(mainly cathedral chapters) have the right to elect their
own bishops.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

EDUCATION
▸ 1698 Enrolls in Séminaire de Saint-Magloire, an Oratorian school
associated with the University of Paris. Befriends two men who are
enthusiastic Jansenists.

▸ 1699 Admitted to Congregation des Pretors du Calvaire (Priests of

Calvary). Strong Jansenist influence in the order.

▸ 1706 Earns doctorate in theology from Sorbonne, University of

Paris. Ordained to the priesthood. Serves various parishes around
the suburbs of Paris.

▸ That same year the Port Royal Abbey is dissolved by Pope Clement
XI. Nuns forcibly removed.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

MISSIONARY PERIOD

▸ 1711 Varlet asks to be admitted to into the Society des

Pretors des Missions, in order to devote himself to
evangelizing the Indians of New France.

▸ 1711 Buildings at Port Royal largely demolished.

▸ 1712 Varlet resigns as parish priest. He is chosen by the

order to fulfill his wish to work with the Tamaroa tribe in
Cahokia (near East St. Louis, IL), which has been without a
priest since 1707.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

MISSION TO LOUISIANA
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

ADVENTURES

▸ 1713 Sails from Brest in March.

▸ Arrives at Fort Louis, Mobile Bay (future Alabama), June 6.

Suffering from dysentery, nearly dies.

▸ Recovers and makes some initial forays outside the fort for
his first encounters with the Indians.

▸ That same year, Bull Unigenitus Dei Filius (Only Begotten

Son of God) condemning Jansenism, is promulgated by
Pope Clement XI.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

FORT LOUIS, MOBILE BAY (FUTURE ALABAMA)

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

FORT LOUIS - MOBILE BAY

▸ “Where we are is to my taste, very pleasant and the air is
good enough…however, summer is four months extremely
hot. But what is worse is that during summer we can only
eat bread …provided we have flour from France. There is no
meat: the colony is so small, there is not enough
consumption to kill beef. Moreover, we cannot keep cattle:
they get lost in the woods. We should have a dozen cows
but we have not even one. It follows that we have no milk or
butter or cheese. The grain is rare, we cannot have poultry.
Therefore we have no eggs. There is no hunting in summer.”
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

ADVENTURES

▸ 1715 Leaves Fort Louis for Cahokia, app. 650 miles.

▸ Louis XIV dies and is succeeded by Louis XV, at age 5.

▸ Arrives in Cahokia.

▸ Begins ministering to the Tamaroa, which continues for 2

years.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

PARISH CHURCH IN CAHOKIA

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

ADVENTURES

▸ 1717 Varlet leaves on March 24 for Quebec City in order

to recruit more priests for his missionary work and
consolidate his position as Vicar General in the face of
Jesuit claims that it is their territory. The trip takes 6
months, covering app. 1,650 miles.

▸ 1718 Quebec. Varlet is successful in persuading the

seminary to give him reinforcements. They leave for
Cahokia.
TEXT
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

ADVENTURES

▸ 1718 Varlet is informed that he is to be consecrated

Coadjutor Bishop of Babylon in Persia (now Iraq).

▸ Varlet leaves Quebec City for France on September 29,

another 5,100 miles.

▸ Arrives in France on November 23.

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

CONSECRATION AND NEW ADVENTURES

▸ 1719 Varlet is consecrated as a bishop, February 19. On the
same day, he is informed of the death of the current bishop of
Babylon, a year before. He is now no longer coadjutor but is
the new Bishop of Babylon in full.

▸ Varlet is instructed to leave for Babylon immediately and to

travel incognito, perhaps for his own safety. He is told to take
“the long route,” to avoid conflicts in Turkey. This requires a
trip by ship to St. Petersburg, Russia, 2,700 miles, then on to
Persia, over 4,000 miles, probably through present day
Georgia and Azerbaijan.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

ADVENTURES
▸ Still 1719 Varlet, in his haste and secrecy, does not visit the Papal
Nuncio to sign/swear his allegiance to Unigenitus.

▸ Varlet leaves for Persia by ship.

▸ The ship is diverted to Amsterdam because of a storm.

▸ Varlet lands in the middle of the dispute between the Dutch, the
Jansenists, the Jesuits and Rome.

▸ Varlet is asked to confirm over 600 men, women and children

since there is no bishop and the people are to old or too poor to
travel to another country for confirmation.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

ADVENTURES

▸ Varlet initially refuses but then agrees to the confirmations

out of pastoral need and confirms all 605 at 3 confirmation
masses.

▸ Varlet leaves for St. Petersburg and then Persia on his

8,000+ miles journey.
TEXT
TEXT
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

ADVENTURES
▸ 1720 Varlet arrives in Persia and finds that he has been
interdicted by a decree from the Congregation for the
Propagation of the Faith and denied all episcopal functions as a
bishop. Accusations:

▸ That he left Paris without calling on the Papal Nuncio and had
not declared his allegiance to the Bull Unigenitus.

▸ That he administered confirmation in Holland without

permission of the Apostolic Vicar for Holland (who administered
Holland from the Electorate of Cologne which was under the
authority of the Archbishop of Cologne, a prince-elector).
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

RETURN TO EUROPE
▸ 1721 Returns to France and begins work to have the interdiction
cancelled.

▸ 1722 Varlet runs the risk of being imprisoned in France and flees
into exile in Holland.

▸ He writes a series of tracts and appeals, many supported by various

bishops and canonists. With each refusal from Rome, Varlet grows
more convinced that conscience will not permit him to agree with
what Rome requires.

▸ Circumstances lead him to identity even more with the Jansenists

effectively closing the door on any reconciliation with Rome.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

MINISTRY IN HOLLAND
▸ January 1723 letter to the pope:

▸ “On one side (there is) the indiscretion of the missionaries who were
not afraid to blacken and discredit me by slander and expose our
holy ministry in disgrace…on the other hand, the hardness that they
had to keep my income, even if it is a poor one, depriving me of any
means of subsistence. Finally, seeing that the Carmelite Fathers had
taken possession of my church and my house under the vain pretext
of a commitment that my predecessor had done for his debts…I had
to get away with pain and throw myself in the danger, the fatigue
and the expenses of a return without finding a place where it was
possible to stop until in this city (Amsterdam).”
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

MINISTRY IN HOLLAND

▸ 1723 Becomes an Appellant against the Bull Unigenitus.

▸ 1724 Utrecht Catholics put forward the name of Cornelius

Steenoven as Bishop in Utrecht, asking Vatican approval.

▸ Pope Benedict XIII appoints another apostolic vicar (ruling

from Cologne) instead, rejecting their candidate.

▸ Utrecht Catholics approach Varlet, asking him to

consecrate Steenoven as bishop, “to raise up a church that
has almost fallen.”
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

MINISTRY IN HOLLAND/BIRTH OF INDEPENDENT DUTCH CATHOLIC CHURCH

▸ Based on his increasingly clear convictions, Varlet, Bishop

of Babylon, consecrates Steenhoven for the See of Utrecht,
October 15.

▸ 1725 Papal brief Qua Sollicitudine, declares the

consecration of Msgr. Steenhoven illicit and pronounces
the excommunication of Varlet and all those involved.

▸ From this point forward, Utrecht becomes an independent

catholic church.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

INDEPENDENT DUTCH CATHOLIC CHURCH

▸ After the excommunication, numerous canonists (mostly in

France) side with Utrecht and dozens of bishops write their
congratulations. Varlet becomes a minor celebrity.

▸ Bishop Steenhoven unexpectedly dies on April 3.

▸ Varlet and Utrecht again defy the Vatican and elect and
consecrate Cornelis Barchman-Wuytiers as Steenhoven’s
replacement.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

INDEPENDENT DUTCH CATHOLIC CHURCH

▸ 1727 Varlet participates in synod to elect a bishop to the

See of Haarlem and also acts as a suffragan (assistant) to
Barchman-Wuyters of Utrecht.

▸ Continues to write and publish. Lives in two houses of

study for “refugee” Jansenists where he teaches courses.

▸ 1733 Death of Archbishop Barchman-Wuytiers. Varlet

considered as replacement but another person is
elected, Theodore van der Croon.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

INDEPENDENT DUTCH CATHOLIC CHURCH

▸ As was the custom, Utrecht sent a request for approval

from Rome with no response.

▸ Varlet suffers the first in a series of strokes.

▸ 1734 Bishop Varlet proceeds with consecration of van der

Croon.

▸ Continues to write, including on being configured to Christ

and the spiritual work of a bishop.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

INDEPENDENT DUTCH CATHOLIC CHURCH

▸ 1739 Archbishop van der croon dies.

▸ Bishop Varlet consecrates Peter Meindearts as elected

successor.

▸ In turn, Meindearts consecrates bishops for Haarlem and

Deventer. It is through these bishops that the episcopal
succession would be maintained in the Dutch church and
transmitted outside the Netherlands.
DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

INDEPENDENT DUTCH CATHOLIC CHURCH

▸ 1742

▸ Bishop Varlet dies of a stroke.

▸ Buried at the Church of St. Mary, Utrecht, May 18.

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

TOMB OF VARLET - UTRECHT

DOMINIQUE MARIE VARLET

THE ORDINARY JURISDICTION BELONGS TO THE CATHEDRAL CHAPTER

▸ “There must be, in each diocese, a bishop who governs it.

During the vacancy of the episcopal see, the jurisdiction is
vested in the Cathedral Chapter. These are the constant
rules of the church that it is not permitted the nuncios, or
even the Pope, to change…we must always have in mind
this rule recommended by St. Gregory: you cannot do
more insult to the pope than to authorize yourself to
confound in his name the ecclesiastical order. The Vicars
Apostolic were established to maintain the rules, not to
destroy them.” Dominique M. Varlet