MARET, HENRI LOUIS CHARLES

French bishop, theologian; b. Meyrueis (Lozére), April 20, 1805; d. Paris, June 16, 1884. Studies at Saint-Sulpice Seminary, Paris, preceded his ordination (1830). After spending a short time in the circle of Hugues Félicité de lamennais, he became chaplain of St. Philippe du Roule in Paris (1832) and then professor (1841) and dean (1853) in the theology faculty at the Sorbonne. With ozanam and lacordaire he founded the journal L'Ère nouvelle (1848). When the government nominated him to the See of Vannes (1860), Pius IX refused to confirm the appointment because he was wary of Maret's gallicanism and his association with Catholic liberals. In 1861, however, Maret became titular bishop of Sura. During the Second Empire (1852–70) Maret, an acquaintance of na poleon iii, exercised considerable influence in the government's nominations to bishoprics. He continued his efforts to obtain outstanding professors for the Sorbonne theology faculty, whose degrees Rome did not recognize.

Maret was zealous and pious, well acquainted with contemporary intellectual movements, and an effective opponent of pantheism and atheism. He did not regard a breach between the Church and modern society inevitable and tried to deter Pius IX from publishing the syllabus of errors. In a letter to the pope on the eve of its appearance, he argued that the separation of Church and State could be reconciled with the Church's traditions, rights, and doctrines. After vatican council i was announced, he published his best-known work, Du concile général et de la paix religieuse (2 v. 1869), which opposed a definition of papal infallibility and stressed the place of bishops in the Church's constitution and the vital importance of holding general councils at regular intervals. At the council he was a leading opponent of the definition of the papal prerogatives. He voted non placet in the definitive ballot (July 13) and absented himself from the solemn session (July 18) that promulgated the constitution Pastor aeternus; but he subscribed to the conciliar decisions the following month. At the insistence of Pius IX he retracted publicly everything in his book contrary to the above constitution (Aug. 15, 1871).

Bibliography: g. bazin, Vie de Mgr. Mater 3 v. (Paris 1891). c. butler, The Vatican Council, 2 v. (New York 1930). É. amann, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique 9.2:2033–37. s. lÖsch, Döllinger und Frankreich (Munich 1955) 209–229. r. thysman, "Le Gallicanisme de Mgr. M. et l'influence de Bossuet," Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique 52 (1957) 401–465. u. betti, La costituzione dommatica "Pastor aeternus" del Concilio vaticano I (Rome 1961).

[v. conzemius]