The Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Basilique du Sacré-Coeur) is a church in
The politics behind the church go back as far as the Age of Enlightenment. Conservatives and Monarchists were tied with the Roman Catholic Church as symbols of authority and the status quo. Liberals and radicals opposed the Monarchy and there for the Church as being oppressive against them and the people. Things came to ahead during the French Revolution where radicals were violently anti-clerical and attempted to stamp out Catholicism from
The revolutionary government was eventually done away with and for the next 70 or so years
Two very different reins would affect the outlook of French Catholics. Napoleon III stabilized State-Church relations until he committed the "forgivable" sin of withdrawing French troops from the Papal States thus leaving it open to Italian unification. During (or after depending who you ask) the Franco-Prussian War,
Catholics in
Liberals and radicals oppose this however. They objected to the symbolism which they saw as a monument to the old ways. Radicals saw it as an affront to the memory of the Communers who were executed on the hill. After efforts to stop building the church failed by legislative means many proposed the government a statue of liberty (the first one was being built for the
The church influenced the French middle at the time. Groups were encouraged to donate funds to construct chapels in the basement. One of the groups born out of the fundraising was a society of Catholic industrial workers. These were religiously devout Catholics who also supported social justice and other social causes. In 1899, Pope Leo XII rededicated the Sacred Heart to racial harmony, social harmony, and conciliation. This allowed Christian Democrats and other Catholics who did not support the Monarchy to support the idea of the Sacred Heart church.
Final consecration was delayed until the end of World War I. There was a huge celebration for the church and the French victory. For a while church's political statement lessened until the days of French radicalism returned. In 1971 radicals attempted to storm the church because they believed it was a symbol of government oppression. Later that year a small bomb went off exactly 100 years to the day of the execution on the Communers. Things have settled down once again. However, to this day the church is a controversial piece of the French political and cultural landscape.
The Geography Blog focusing on all things geography: human, physical, technical, space, news, and geopolitics. Also known as Geographic Travels with Catholicgauze! Written by a former National Geographic employee who also proudly served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Battle of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart
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