Editing Jansenism (section)

=== In the Dutch Republic ===
{{further|Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands#Reformation and Jansenism|Holland Mission}}

The [[Dutch Republic]] was the place of exile for many French Jansenists. They gathered first in Amsterdam, then increasingly in [[Utrecht]]. Since the 16th century, this small town had been the seat of the [[Dutch Mission]] aimed at the conversion of the Dutch who had become largely [[Reformed Christianity|Reformed]]. Jansenist refugees from France and the Spanish Netherlands were made welcome, increasing the Jansenist influence among Dutch Roman Catholics. As a result, the Dutch Mission gained a strong Jansenist element in both theology and morality.<ref name="Israel-1995" />{{Rp|page=650}} Politically, the Dutch Jansenists were more inclined than other Roman Catholics to reach accommodation with the Protestant authorities and sought to make themselves independent of papal control.<ref name="Israel-1995" />{{Rp|page=|pages=649, 652}} Moreover, theologically the Jansenist doctrines were considered to be closer to the dominant Dutch [[Reformed Christianity|Reformed Protestantism]]. Dutch Jansenism (sometimes called 'Quesnelism' after [[Pasquier Quesnel]]) was accused by its opponents of being 'crypto-Calvinism within the Church'.<ref name="Israel-1995" />{{Rp|page=653|pages=}} The controversy between Jansenists and anti-Jansenists (the latter naturally led by the Jesuits) increasingly tore up the Dutch Roman Catholic Church in the late 17th and early 18th century, with the authorities of the Dutch Republic actively involved on the one side and the papacy and kings of France, Spain, Portugal, and Poland on the other. Moreover, some Dutch Roman Catholics seeking greater independence from papal control were identified as being 'Jansenists', even if not necessarily adhering to the theological doctrines of Jansenism.<ref name="Israel-1995" />{{Rp|page=1034|pages=}}[[File:Sint-Gertrudiskathedraal.JPG|left|thumb|[[St. Gertrude's Cathedral]], seat of the [[Archbishop of Utrecht]] and mother church of the [[Old Catholic Church]], a small denomination of [[Christianity]] that remains in existence today, and which was influenced by Jansenism in its founding]]
The opposition towards the Jesuits and Roman Catholic clergy in general in the Republic of the 1680s prompted a more 'national attitude' among Dutch Roman Catholics, who began to stray from papal authority and adjust to their environment within their local hierarchies.<ref name="Israel-1995" />{{Rp|page=649}} The minority status of Roman Catholicism paradoxically allowed greater freedom for the local churches, which elected its bishop and had him confirmed by the pope, even if he only bore the title of 'vicar apostolic' so as not to irritate the government. Relations between Utrecht and French Jansenism had developed early on, since vicar apostolic [[Johannes van Neercassel]], friend of Antoine Arnauld and Pasquier Quesnel,<ref name="Israel-1995" />{{Rp|page=|pages=651–652}} and in 1673 published an 'uncompromisingly Jansenist work', ''Amor Poenitens'', which was frequently criticised by the Jesuits.<ref name="Israel-1995" />{{Rp|page=652|pages=}} His successor, [[Petrus Codde]], who was influenced by Arnauld and Quesnel, and did much to promote Jansenism in the Dutch Mission including harbouring French Jansenist refugees, was suspended by Clement XI in 1702, despite his popularity with the local population.<ref name="Israel-1995" />{{Rp|page=1034|pages=}} He appointed a successor who was unpopular with the local Roman Catholics. In August 1702, the [[States of Holland and West Friesland|States of Holland]] forbade Dutch Roman Catholics from recognising a vicar general who was not approved by its representatives. This meant that Dutch Roman Catholics were split between submitting to the authority of the Pope at the expense of the States or vice versa.<ref name="Israel-1995" />{{Rp|page=1035|pages=}}

In April 1723, tensions culminated when the 'refractory' clergy appointed [[Cornelius van Steenoven]] as 'Archbishop of Utrecht', who the majority of the Roman Catholic laity supported, in opposition to papal authority, thus establishing a formal schism between the ultramontane and Jansenist-leaning Roman Catholics.<ref name="Israel-1995" />{{Rp|page=1036|pages=}} The canons of Utrecht remained without a bishop for almost fifteen years, during which it was ministered mainly by exiled French Jansenists. French bishops also ordained Dutch priests to ensure the survival of this small church.<ref name="Israel-1995" />{{Rp|page=1036|pages=}}

In 1724, Utrecht once again had bishops. It was the ''appelant'' [[Dominique Marie Varlet]], [[coadjutor bishop]] of the diocese ''[[in partibus]]'' of [[Babylon]], who settled in the Dutch Republic after fierce disputes with the Holy See. He agreed to successively ordain four bishops elected by the chapter of Utrecht. This is when the 'Little Church of Utrecht', now called the [[Old Catholic Church]], was founded. With each new [[ordination]] of a bishop, the Church sent a request for [[canonical institution]] to the pope, who invariably condemned it as a schismatic body.<ref name="Gazier-1924" />{{Rp|pages=29–32}} Throughout the 18th century, these two rival Catholic Churches were active in competition. The question of whether, and to what degree, this breakaway church was Jansenist was highly controversial; the Jesuits having a clear polemical interest in emphasising its identification as such.

The links between the Old Catholic Church and the French Jansenists are numerous and lasting. From a place of refuge in the 18th century, Utrecht has become a place of conservation of Jansenist history and traditions. There are numerous French Jansenist archives in Utrecht and [[Amersfoort]] (where the [[seminary]] was located). The funds from the Perrette box were regularly used to partially finance this church. The French Jansenists hoped, until the middle of the 19th century, to have priests ordained by Utrecht to found a church of the same kind in France, although this project never came to fruition.<ref name="Chantin-1996" />{{Rp|pages=52–54}}