Jansenism is a Roman Catholic reform movement based on the belief that humans are born sinners and need divine assistance. It was founded by Cornelius Otto Jansen and promoted by Jean du Vergier de Hauranne. Jansenism was condemned as heretical and its followers exhibited intense piety. The movement lasted from the 16th to the 18th century, with the convent of Port Royal being a stronghold. It was destroyed in 1710 under pressure from the Jesuits.
Jansenism is based on the belief that human beings are born sinners and will never become good without divine assistance. Original sin, the depravity of all human beings, predestination and the need for divine grace are the cornerstones of Jansenism. A Roman Catholic reform movement, the branch was formed based on the writings of Cornelius Otto Jansen, a Dutch theologian who lived from 1510 to 1576. Jansen opposed his contemporary Jesuit theologians on a number of issues. He focused on the work of St. Augustine of Hippo and based his writings on the principles he perceived therein. His work, “Augstinus,” was not published until 1640.
Jansenism grew, in part, from Jansen’s friendship with Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, who was later known as L’Abbot de Saint-Cyran. Saint-Cyran promoted Jansenism even before the publication of “Augstinus”, and was a councilor of the Cistercian convent of Port-Royal-des-Champs, also known as Port Royal, in France. There he befriended Antoine Arnauld, brother of the abbess, who became the leader of the movement after Saint-Cyran’s death in 1643.
After Arnauld’s death in 1694, Pasquier Quesnel was considered the leader of the movement. Quesnel wrote a devotional guide, published in 1692, which was originally praised by several Catholic bishops, but later condemned by Pope Clement XI. This marked one of the last great battles for the viability of Jansenism within the Catholic church.
The Jansenist movement within the Roman Catholic Church lasted from the 16th to the 18th century. Most of the movement, however, occurred after the death of Cornelius Otto Jansen. Jansenism was condemned as heretical by a series of papal decrees and bulls, which are charters issued by the pope. The father of the movement was not alive to see, or to check, the influence of his writings, so he was never condemned as a heretic. Additionally, Jansen’s writings included statements in which he submits to the Catholic Church.
Based on the writings of Cornelius Otto Jansen, his followers have worked to exhibit an incredible level of piety. Additionally, Jansenists spent time in both intense prayer and confession before receiving Holy Communion. This was in direct opposition to St. Pius X’s belief that Communion should be taken frequently and as early in life as possible. He believed that children should receive Communion as soon as they were old enough to distinguish between the wafer and ordinary bread. In Jansenism, just as in Calvinism, only a select few of all human beings are destined to be saved.
The convent of Port Royal, located in the southwest of Paris, took much of the Jansenist doctrine to heart. Under pressure from the Jesuits, however, King Louis XIV razed the convent to the ground in 1710 after the last nuns had been removed from the premises. The convent was active from the early 1200s. The remains are still visible today.
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