PERRAUD (Adolphe Louis Albert) - Lot 137

PERRAUD (Adolphe Louis Albert) Lyon, February 7, 1828 - Autun, February 10, 1906. Oratorian, bishop of Autun, cardinal and French historian. L.A.S. "Adolphe Perraud, Prêtre de l'Orat.", Paris, April 9, 1870; 4 pages in-8 on laid paper with dry Oratory stamp. Important religious and political letter written on the eve of Vatican Council I, in which Perraud evokes with great acuity the doctrinal and ecclesiological tensions in French Catholicism at the end of the Second Empire. The author begins by recalling his former convictions, expressed in a speech dedicated to Montalembert, and confides his deep concerns about "the great events of the present hour". He says he has asked various prelates for "the most precise indications possible of the true state of mind". Perraud goes on to describe the climate of struggle and division within the Church: "the struggle goes on - a very ardent and painful struggle, but also a very noble and great one". The heart of the letter focuses on the theological debates between ultramontanes and moderate Gallicans. He analyzes with finesse the transformation of a once purely theological quarrel into a political and journalistic conflict: "a question which in other times, considered solely from the theological point of view [...] was examined peacefully and scientifically, has today become a fact of combat". A remarkable development on the difficulty of reconciling "reasonable ultramontanism and moderate Gallicanism", with Perraud regretting that "it would not have been impossible for good minds to solve the problem". Nevertheless, the conclusion is confident and deeply spiritual: "God will not allow error to prevail [...] the prayers and sacrifices of Christian souls will hasten the moment when light will pierce the cloud". A fine letter of religious and political reflection, revealing the internal debates in French Catholicism on the eve of the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility. In good condition, despite a few small marginal tears and traces of folding.