He had ordered them to resign; he had withdrawn apostolic powers from the thirteen who had refused to tender their resignations; to all, even to those who refused, he had appointed their successors.

He assigned to the new titularies dioceses of a new pattern and, to justify novelties of such gravity,[5206] he could allege no other reasons than circumstances, the exigencies of lay power, and the welfare of the Church.

After that the Gallicans themselves, unless accepting the risk of a schism and of separating forever from the Holy See, were obliged to allow the Pope above and beyond the ordinary powers exercised by him within the old limits of canons and of custom, an extraordinary power unlimited by any canon or by any custom,[5207] a plenary and absolute authority, a right above all other rights, by virtue of which, in cases determined by himself, he provided in a discretionary way for all Catholic interests, of which he thus becomes the supreme judge, the sole interpreter and the court of last appeal.

An indestructible precedent was set up; it was the great corner-stone in the support of the modern Church edifice; on this definitive foundation all other stones were to be superposed, one by one.

In 1801, Pius VII., under the pressure of the reigning Napoleon, had obliged the prelates of the old regime, sullied by a monarchical origin and suspected of zeal for the dethroned Bourbons, to abandon their seats.