The Church of the Revolutionary Age: Facing New Destinies
is the eighth installment in Henri Daniel-Rops'
History of the Church of Christ
. This volume focuses on the momentous political events of the age: (1) The French Revolution and its effects on the Church and influence across Europe in developing radical ideals and parties. (2) The bitter struggle for sovereignty between "sword and spirit" in the Napoleonic era, culminating in the kidnapping of Pope Pius VII. (3) The perilous effort to rebuild and restore society amid the ruinous aftermath of that conflict-a drama of concordats and counter-revolution; of restoration of religion and regimes of uneasy alliance between Throne and Altar; of emancipation and rebellion; with the voices of geniuses like de Maistre and Lamennais, Chateaubriand and Consalvi, Pope Gregory XVI and O'Connell, dictating and defying, in turn, the flow of the revolutionary currents.
The epoch of 1789 to 1870, which had opened with the fratricidal fanfare of revolution, saw the Church face a seemingly endless succession of perils. Presented in arresting detail and with dramatic flair by Daniel-Rops, the evidence of
proves that those dangerous afflictions were "as pruning is to a tree." And thus pruned, "the Church in an age of revolution became a Church of sanctity."