Boundaries of Faith: Catholics and Protestants in the Diocese of Geneva (review)

Jill Fehleison’s study of the Diocese of Geneva in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries is a fine addition to a lengthy list of books examining the Catholic Reformation in French, German, Italian, and Spanish dioceses. However, the Diocese of Geneva presents a particularly interesting example of the reform program. Since its former seat was now the center of Calvinism, it was on the frontlines of the battle against heresy. The diocese also crossed a national boundary between the Duchy of Savoy and France. Among its bishops was one of the most famous figures of the Catholic Reform—the future saint, François de Sales.

De Sales (bishop from 1602 to 1622)—along with his predecessor, Claude de Granier (1579–1602), and his successor (and younger brother) Jean-François de Sales (1622–35)—focused much of their energy on reclaiming the diocese from Protestantism. Their greatest success came in the Chablais region south of Lake Geneva, where François de Sales started a mission to convert Protestants in 1594. Jesuit and Capuchin missionaries joined his campaign, preaching, debating Reformed ministers, and organizing extravagant Forty Hours celebrations. The missionaries were convinced that baroque spectacles would attract Protestants starved for a religious life with emotional appeal. They may have been right; Protestantism largely disappeared from the region. But success owed as much to backing the mission received from the duke, Charles Emmanuel I. In a critique of the confessionalization paradigm, Fehleison points out that the political concerns of the duke and the religious aims of the missionaries often diverged. When they did come together, the duke participated in the mission’s celebrations, supported it financially, and eventually revoked the Protestants’ right to liberty of conscience.

In contrast, in the Pays de Gex to the west of Lake Geneva, Protestantism survived. The region became part of France in 1601, leaving reforming bishops caught between hostile rulers—the duke and French kings. Henri IV may have admired François de Sales, but he offered the bishop only limited help. He applied the Edict of Nantes’s provisions in the region to restore Catholic worship but also to protect the Reformed community.

Like authors of other diocesan studies, Fehleison has examined the records of episcopal visits for evidence of the Catholic Reformation’s impact on Catholic parishes. What she finds confirms what these other studies have concluded. Generally bishops succeeded in improving the education and competency of parish priests as well as getting them to observe celibacy. But the old monastic foundations in the diocese strenuously resisted reform. Unlike clergy elsewhere, Catholic Reformation orders such as the Society of Jesus and the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin had little lasting success. The laity did not offer them much support.

As was the case with Catholic reformers in other regions, the Geneva bishops sought to remake the religious lives of laypeople by instilling religious behavior that the clergy controlled and that met new standards for proper worship. But they found that the people “continued to define for themselves what it meant to be a Catholic” (p. 182). Bishops succeeded in encouraging Catholic-Reformation confraternity devotions such as the Blessed Sacrament and the rosary. But older Holy Spirit confraternities continued, as did traditional processions and pilgrimages. In general, people “embraced new practices that enriched their spiritual lives, protected valued local customs, and resisted changes not to their liking” (p. 217). Given the nearby presence of the rival Reformed faith, bishops did not press the issue. And so, the Council of Trent’s ideals remained difficult to implement. Bishops adapted to local realities and scaled back their expectations when their major preoccupation was the fight against Protestantism.