LA LUZERNE, CÉSAR-GUILLAUME de. — Cardinal, apologist, defender of the rights of the Church during the period of the French Revolution, born in Paris on 17 July 1738, died there on 27 June 1821. After brilliant studies, he was ordained a priest and, in 1762, appointed vicar general of Narbonne; three years later he became the general agent of the clergy.
In 1770 he was elected bishop of Langres by Louis XV. In 1788 he took an active part in the discussions of the États généraux, wishing to form, against the Third Estate, a separate Chamber of the clergy and the nobility. In the other debates La L. showed himself more moderate and conciliatory than his colleagues; seeing, however, that his efforts were useless, he withdrew to his diocese, where he continued to direct the clergy with great wisdom, fighting energetically in his writings against the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Having been forced to leave the diocese for this reason, he took refuge in Switzerland, Austria, and then Italy. After the period of the Revolution had ended, La L. tendered to the Pope the resignation required in order to facilitate the implementation of the Concordat. Under Louis XVIII, however, he was restored to his see, becoming a cardinal (1817) and minister charged with taking part in the negotiations for the new Concordat. He was one of the most brilliant apologists of his time, although not entirely free of Gallican influences.
In addition to his various writings against the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, the works that make him one of the first French apologists are: Instruction pastorale sur l'excellence de la religion (Langres 1786); Sermon sur les causes de l'incrédulité (Constance 1795); Considérations sur divers points de la morale chrétienne (5 vols., Venice 1799); Dissertations sur la vérité de la religion, etc. (6 vols., Langres 1802–10); Explications des Évangiles (5 vols., Lyon 1807); Considérations sur l'état ecclésiastique (ibid. 1810). Published posthumously: Dissertation sur les droits et devoirs respectifs des évêques et des curés dans l'Église (Paris 1854).