Through the Concordat of 1801, Napoleon gained the power to redraw dioceses and nominate bishops.
He believed that by controlling the bishops, he controlled the clergy under them, and would no longer need to monitor them personally.
During the French Revolution, the Constituent Assembly passed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. Priests, bishops, and archbishops were no longer appointed by the Pope, but elected by citizens like state officials. Those elected were ordained by higher-ranking clergy, while bishops had to be consecrated by archbishops. Newly appointed bishops and higher clergy only needed to profess faith in the Pope and acknowledge that they belonged to the same faith. They no longer needed to go to Rome to purchase the pallium from the Pope. The first-fruits tax was also abolished, salaries were paid by the state, and bishops' conferences replaced the formerly privileged ecclesiastical assemblies and took part in diocesan administration.
Clergy who accepted the law and swore loyalty were called constitutional clergy, while those who opposed it were called non-juring clergy. These non-juring clergy became the fuse of the French Revolution, and they were later killed in brutal ways as well.
Caprara demanded that the constitutional clergy admit their errors, but they refused, and the Concordat of 1801 was at one point deadlocked beyond further negotiation. Rome declared that it would not ordain the constitutional bishops appointed under the Concordat of 1801, while Bonaparte remained unwaveringly determined to force the Pope to approve the appointment of twelve constitutional bishops. At the same time, sixteen bishops opposed to the Concordat of 1801 who had already submitted their resignations were also appointed.
Bernier, the bishop representing France in the negotiations, ambiguously stated that the constitutional bishops had made oral declarations. In the end, he obtained the position of Bishop of New Orleans.
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