7
edits
Changes
→Disaffection with Roman Catholicism
==Early Life==
Born in the town of [[w:Blois|Blois]], on the [[w:Loire (river)|Loire River]] in central France. , René-Francois, as he was called, received an upbringing typical for a boy from a wealthy and respected family of that time. From his first lessons with the local curé, he went on to [[seminary]] and completed the graduate program. Even then he sensed the error of the [[w:Scholasticism|scholastic]] approach, although it was still some time before he was sufficiently equipped to be able to repudiate it.
Ordained a [[Roman Catholic]] priest in 1839, he was first an assistant pastor in a small country town, and later had his own flock elsewhere, where he organized a school for children. His scholarship, his work in the libraries, and his love for reading and textual analysis drew the attention of the local bishop. It was at this time that the 32-year old Guettée came out with his 12-volume ''History of the Church in France'' (1847-1856).
Guettée's examination of the papacy opened his eyes to a whole system of errors, which, under his scrutiny, ''"collapsed like the walls of Jericho at Joshua's trumpets."''
Increasingly disaffected by [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]], Guettée would no doubt have wandered about in limbo for some time were it not for a providential encounter with Fr. Joseph Vassiliev, who served the chapel in the Russian embassy on rue Grenelle, and who assisted Guettée in his move towards Orthodoxy. Fr. Guettée renamed his journal The ''Christian Union.'' Initially published under the editorial guidance of Fr. Joseph, the journal attracted a number of collaborators, including the Russian slavophile, [[Alexei Stepanovich Khomiakov|Alexei Khomiakov]]. It held aloft the banner of Orthodoxy, deflecting the attacks and slanders of its adversaries, and exposing the Catholic propaganda spread by Russians who had fallen prey to the [[w:Society of Jesus|Jesuits]]. In its pages Vladimir Soloviev was soundly rebuffed for his [[Eastern Catholic Churches|Uniate]] pretentions. The journal likewise proved valuable in acquainting Roman Catholic theologians with the teachings of the Orthodox faith.
==Conversion to Orthodoxy==
==Further Reading==
* [[whttp://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul Besse|Paul_Besse Jean-Paul Besse]], (Préface De l'Archimandrite Serge (Yazadjiev) de l'Eglise Patriarcale Bulgare). ''Un précurseur : Wladimir Guettée (1816-1892), du Gallicanisme à l'Orthodoxie.'' Lavardac, Monastère Orthodoxe Saint-Michel, 1992. ''(In French)''
==See also==
