FESSLKR
51
FESSLER
On 4 April, 1803, Napoleon appointed Cardinal
Fescli successor to Cacaiilt as ambassador to Rome,
giving him Chateaubriand for secretary. The early
part of his sojourn in the Eternal City was noted for
his differences with Chateaubriand and his efforts to
have the Concordat extended to the Italian Republic.
He prevailed upon Pius VII to go to Paris in
person and crown Napoleon. This w'as Fesch's
greatest achievement. He accompanied the pope to
France and, as grand almoner, blessed the marriage
of Napoleon and Josephine before the coronation cere-
mony took place. By a decree issued in 1805, the
missionary institutions of Saint-Lazare and Saint-
Sulpice were placed under the direction of Cardinal
Fesch, who, laden with this new responsibility, re-
turned to Rome. In 1806, after the occupation of
Ancona by French troops, and Napoleon's letter pro-
claiming himself
Emperor of Rome,
Akjuier was named
to succeed Fesch
as ambassador to
Rome. Returning
to his archiepisco-
pal See of Lyons,
the cardinal re-
mained in close
touch with his
nepliew's religious
policy and strove,
occasionally with
success, to obviate
certain irreparable
mistakes. He ac-
cepted the coadju-
torship to Dalberg,
prince-primate,
in the See of Rat-
isbon, but, in ISOS,
refused the em-
peror's offer of the Archbishopric of Paris, for which
he could not have obtained canonical institution. Al-
though powerlesstopreventeitherthe rupture between
Napoleon and the pope in 1809 or the closing of the semi-
naries of Saint-Lazare, Saint-Esprit, and the Missions
Etrangeres, Fesch nevertheless managed to deter
Napoleon from signing a decree relative to the inde-
pendence of the Galilean Church. He consented to
bless Napoleon's marriage with Marie-Louise, but,
according to the researches of Geoffroy de Grand-
maison, he was not responsible to the same extent as
the members of the diocesan officialiti- for the illegal
annulment of the emperor's first marriage.
In 1809 and ISIO Fesch presided over the two eccle- siastical commissions charged with the question of canonical institution of bishops, but the proceedings were so conducted that neither commission adopted any schismatic resolutions. As its president, he opened the National Council of 1811, but at the very outset he took and also administered the oath (forma juramenti professionis fidei) required by the Bull " Injunctum nobis" of Pius IV; it was decided by eight votes out of eleven that the method of canonical institution could not be altered independently of the pope. A message containing the assurance of the cardinal's loyalty, and addressed to the supreme pon- tiff, then in exile at Fontainebleau, caused Fesch to in- cur the emperor's disfavour and to forfeit the subsidy of 150,000 florins which he had received as Dalberg's coadjutor. Under the Restoration and the Mon- archy of July, Fesch lived at Rome, his Archdiocese of Lyons being in charge of an administrator. He died without again returning to France and left a splendid collection of pictures, a part of which was bequeathed to his episcopal city.
As a diplomat, Fesch sometimes employed ques- tionable methods. His relationship to the emperor
JUSEPU C.4RD1.N
anil his cardinalitial dignity often made his position a
ditticult one; at least he could never be accused of
approving the violent measures resorted to by Napo-
leon. As archbishop, he was largely instrumental in
re-establishing the Brothers of Christian Doctrine and
recalling the Jesuits, under the name of Pacanarists.
The Archdiocese of Lyons is indebted to him for some
eminently useful institutions. It must be admitted,
moreover, that in his pastoral capacity Fesch took a
genuine interest in the education of priests.
Lyonnet, Le cardinal Fesch, archeveque de Lyon, primal des Gaules (Pari.s, 1S41); Cattet, La virUe sur le cardinal Fesch (Lyons, 1S42); Id., Difense de la verite sur le cardinal Fesch et sur V administralion aposlolique de Lyon (Lyons, 1,S43); Ricard, Le cardinal Fesch (Paris, 1893); Grandmaiso.n, Napoleon et tes cardinaux noirs (Paris, 1898).
Georges Goyau.
Fessler, Josef, Bishop of St. Polten in Austria, and secretary of the Vatican Council; b. 2 December, 1813, at Lochau near Bregenz in the Vorarlberg; d. 25 April, 1S72. His parents were peasants. He early showed great abilities. His classical studies were done at Feldkirch, his philosophy at Innsbruck, including a year of legal studies, and his theology at Brixen. He was ordained priest in 1837, and, after a year as master in a school at Innsbruck, studied for two more years in Vienna. He then became professor of eccle- siastical history and canon law in the theological school at Brixen, 1841-52. He published at the re- quest of the Episcopal Conference of Wiirzburg, in 1848, a useful little book " Ueber die Provincial-Concil- ien und Diocesan-Synoden " (Innsbruck, 1849), and in 1850-1 the well-known "Institutiones Patrologi^, quas ad frequentiorem utiliorem et faciliorem SS. Patrum lectionem promovendara concinnavit J. Fess- ler" (Innsbruck, 2 vols., Svo). This excellent work superseded the unfinished books of Mohler and Per- maneder, and was not surpas.sed by the subsequent works of Alzog and Nirschl. In its new edition by the late Prof. Jungmann of Louvain (Innsbruck, 1890-1)), it is still of great value to the student, in spite of the newer information given by Bardenhewer. From 1856 to 1861 Fessler was professor of canon law in the LTni- versity of Vienna, after making special studies for six months at Rome. He was consecrated as assistant bishop to the Bishop of Brixen, Dr. Gasser, on 31 March, 1862, and became his vicar-general for the Vorarlberg. On 23 Sept., 1864, he was named by the emperor Bishop of St. Polten, not far from Vienna. When at Rome in 1867 he was named assistant at the papal throne. In 1869 Pope Pius IX proposetl Bishop Fessler to the Congregation for the direction of the coming Vatican Council as secretary to the council. The appointment was well received, the only objection being from Cardinal Caterini who thought the choice of an Austrian might make the other nations jealous. Bishop Fessler was informed of his appointment on 27 March, and as the pope wished him to come with all speed to Rome, he arrived there on S July, after hastily dispatching the business of his diocese. He had a pro-secretary and two assistants. It was certainly wise to choose a prelate whose vast and intimate ac- quaintance with the Fathers and with ecclesiastical history was equalled only by his thorough knowledge of canon law. He seems to have given universal satis- faction by his work as secretary, but the burden was a heavy one, and in spite of his excellent constitution his untiring labours were thought to have been the cause of his early death. Before the council he published an opportune work "Das letzte und das nachste allge- meine Konzil" (Freiburg, 1869). and after the coun- cil he replied in a masterly brochure Xo the attack on the council by Dr. Schulte, professor of canon law and German law at Prague. Dr. Schulte's pamphlet on the power of the Roman popes over princes, countries, peoples, and individuals, in the light of their acts since the reign of Gregory VII, was very simOar in character
