Seafield Convent Grammar School - History Part I - Born Out of Revolution

Born Out of Revolution

Seafield Convent's history began in France in 1789. The Revolution of that year, whilst having immense repercussions for all classes and institutions, brought about a massive shift of power from the Roman Catholic Church to the state, and sent shockwaves around Europe. The newly formed French National Assembly began imposing its will over the Church with the abolition of the Church’s right to collect tithes (4 August 1789). However the ferocity of the legislation was to increase rapidly when the Assembly discovered that the French Government was virtually bankrupt. To no small extent, the Assembly addressed the financial crisis by having the nation take over the property of the Church (while taking on the Church's expenses), through the law of 2 December 1789. The Catholic Church had been the largest landowner in the country, controlling between 10-15% of the land in France and the forced re-possession was seen to be a wise decision, enabling the government to introduce a new paper currency, assignats, backed by the confiscated church lands. Further legislation on 13 February 1790 abolished monastic vows. The consequent closing of Monasteries and Convents left some 2,500 monks and 30,000 nuns adrift.

The Law of the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, passed on 12 July 1790 subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in France to the French government. Under the Law all remaining clergy were classed as “state employees” and were obliged to take an oath of loyalty to the constitution. The result was a great divide between Church and State. Out of 134 bishops only four accepted the Civil Constitution; two out of every three priests also rejected it.

In response to this legislation, the Archbishop of Aix and the bishop of Clermont led a walkout of clergy from the National Constituent Assembly. The Pope never accepted the new arrangement, and it led to a schism between those clergy who swore the required oath and accepted the new arrangement ("jurors" or "constitutional clergy") and the "non-jurors" or "refractory priests" who refused to do so. In 1799 the new Consulate of France, appointed Napoleon I First Consul. In his new position Napoleon quickly realized that the revolution was threatened if he could not win favour with the majority of the peasants and stabilize France. It was obvious that Catholicism was still the most widespread religion in France, and that he could secure a strong base of support by pacifying the continuing religious strife in western France. Napoleon thus agreed a Concordant with Pope Pius VII in 1801. Unusually the Vatican was forced into accepting terms more favorable to Napoleon. The terms of the Concordant were that:

“The Catholic Religion is to be freely practiced in France. Church property is not to be returned to the Church, however the state will pay the salaries of the Clergy. Bishops are to be appointed by the First Consul but the Pope will retain control over their investiture. The Parish clergy are to take an oath of loyalty to the French state.”

The relaxation of the harsh Civil Constitution lead to the reopening of many churches and the vendetta against religion eased. The Parish Church of St. Aphrodise in Béziers was “redeemed” and Abbé Martin – formerly a non-juror priest of revolutionary times took control of the parish. The very first child baptized in the church was one Jean Gailhac – the future founder of the Institute of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. As he was the first baptized child, Abbé Martin followed the progress of the young Jean intently, and later encouraged and gave his guidance and help in nurturing the young boy’s desire to become a priest. Gailhac entered the seminary at Montpellier in 1821 aged 19. It was here that he met his great friend and fellow student Eugéne Cure. Cure and his wife later became Jean’s spiritual and financial support in all his charitable projects.

Five years later, on 23 September 1826 Jean Gailhac was finally ordained a priest for the Diocese of Montpellier by Bishop Nicolas Fournier. His dedication and hard work was rewarded with the position of the Seminary’s Professor. On 12 September 1828 however, at his own request, he was transferred to Chaplain of the Civil and Military Hospital of the city of Béziers – one of the lowest paid jobs at the time. It was here that Gailhac’s work brought him into contact with the Nursing Sisters. The Sisters belonged to various Orders and this led to clashes in duty between their own Order and Gailhac’s own charity projects. He eventually felt the need to create an institute to further his charity projects, and his increasing desire to focus upon education (let us not forget that during the years of the Revolution 1789-1799 some 22,000 Primary schools were closed).

So it was that on 24 February 1849 Father Gailhac and Appollonie Cure (the widow of his good friend Eugéne Cure) together with five other women: Eulalie Vidal, Rosalie Gibbal, Rose Jeantet, Cécile Cambon, and Marie Roques, founded the Institute of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. Father Gailhac acted as their spiritual director and formator for these women. The group began their work in the Good Shepherd Refuge for Women and in a local orphanage. Appollonie Cure, now Mother Saint Jean, was named the general superior of the new community. In the following year the rule of life of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, the “RSHM Constitution”, was approved on a diocesan level, and on the canonical level in 1880. The Constitution - the mission of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, is defined: "to know and love God, to make God known and loved, to proclaim that Jesus Christ has come in order that all may have life".

The Institute grew rapidly and by the time the original group made their first profession (religious) in May 1851 their number had grown to ten. As intended by Father Gailhac education formed the focus of their work, and the Institute took on the education of orphans as well as opening their first fee-paying Day school and Boarding School. Over the following years the foundation spread – first to Lisburn near Belfast, second to Porto in Portugal and then to Bootle in Liverpool.