" . . . The damage caused in Naples by the French bookseller Gravier who lives in Via Santa Chiara is too great. He constantly imports books from France where the bishops are bitterly weeping over all the books infected with atheism which are daily and unashamedly published there. Then he sells them throughout Naples.
"These infected books then spread from the city to all the dioceses of the kingdom. The harm grows daily because of the sales of these works. The problem has increased since there is the idea in Naples today that it is no longer necessary to obtain authorization to read forbidden books. . . .
"I sent a petition to his eminence, the Archbishop of Naples, but the only answer I received was that he too deplored the matter.
"Most venerated prince, with your authority and zeal you can remedy this evil. I have written to you because I know your zeal and love for the honor of God. France is the source of these books, but in France the law pursues these publications and has them burned. In Naples booksellers sell them freely to anyone who asks for them. Why can't this bookseller's house and shop be searched from time to time and any pernicious books be mercilessly burned?
"Forgive me for speaking like this and attribute the cause to the ruin of the faith which I see coming over our kingdom because of these accursed books. I do not expect an answer but I hope that your piety will bring remedy to this evil."
"These infected books then spread from the city to all the dioceses of the kingdom. The harm grows daily because of the sales of these works. The problem has increased since there is the idea in Naples today that it is no longer necessary to obtain authorization to read forbidden books. . . .
"I sent a petition to his eminence, the Archbishop of Naples, but the only answer I received was that he too deplored the matter.
"Most venerated prince, with your authority and zeal you can remedy this evil. I have written to you because I know your zeal and love for the honor of God. France is the source of these books, but in France the law pursues these publications and has them burned. In Naples booksellers sell them freely to anyone who asks for them. Why can't this bookseller's house and shop be searched from time to time and any pernicious books be mercilessly burned?
"Forgive me for speaking like this and attribute the cause to the ruin of the faith which I see coming over our kingdom because of these accursed books. I do not expect an answer but I hope that your piety will bring remedy to this evil."
Alphonsus Liguori,
letter to Giuseppe Pappacoda, Prince of Centola and member of the Regency Council, August 16, 1765.
letter to Giuseppe Pappacoda, Prince of Centola and member of the Regency Council, August 16, 1765.
"Your Excellency, being on the point of publishing my work, the Istoria delle Eresie, I cannot think of a more suitable person to dedicate it to than you. Being always by the side of our most august prince, you have always zealously advised him about the interests of our holy religion against unbelievers and against the errors vomited by so many of their books. . . . .
"I make this dedication to you aware of the admirable zeal with which you have always taken extreme care to preserve our most holy religion in this kingdom and especially in this capital, which boasts the title of Fedelissima. That you have preserved it from all corruption will be eternally remembered. This is proven by the extreme solicitude with which you have rigorously forbidden the introduction of books infected with errors against the faith, and have punished the transgressors of these holy laws who have introduced and sold pernicious books in this city."
"I make this dedication to you aware of the admirable zeal with which you have always taken extreme care to preserve our most holy religion in this kingdom and especially in this capital, which boasts the title of Fedelissima. That you have preserved it from all corruption will be eternally remembered. This is proven by the extreme solicitude with which you have rigorously forbidden the introduction of books infected with errors against the faith, and have punished the transgressors of these holy laws who have introduced and sold pernicious books in this city."
Alphonsus Liguori,
letter to Bernardo Tanucci, First Secretary of State.
letter to Bernardo Tanucci, First Secretary of State.
Source of the quotations: Theodule Rey-Mermet, Alphonsus Liguori: Tireless Worker for the Most Abandoned, translated from second French edition by Jehanne-Marie Marchesi, New York: New City Press, 1989, pp. 583-584, 588.
Tanucci was himself a regalist who wanted to see less influence, wealth and power for the Church, but he had no truck with Enlightenment unbelief and impiety. Be that as it may, Enlightenment ideology continued to spread in the educated classes in Naples, so that Napoleon's troops would one day install a French-backed regime in Naples with the full cooperation of local "republicans". However when French troops started fanning out to establish the new revolutionary regime throughout southern Italy, the masses of peasants fought back in defense of their fatherland and their faith, under the leadership of Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo and "L'Armata della Santa Fede". The people of the Catholic kingdom did not take kindly to having their village square crosses replaced with "liberty trees". The new regime also upturned centuries old patterns of land use and social relations. Some speculate that the evangelizing work of Alphonsus Liguori and his Redemptorists among the poor in Naples and the countryside was in part responsible for the defense of the faith which succeeded in overthrowing the revolutionary republic and reestablishing the legitimate monarchy.
