What about Fenelon?
The reason I ask is that all of these people mentioned seemed to have an overwhelming devotion to Christ. I have read them all and I noticed that none of them spoke anything about doctrine. The RCC also ended up persecuting them all. Lets take a look:
1. MADAME GUYON (1648–1717)
Status: Persecuted and imprisoned by the RCC (especially French church authorities influenced by Bishop Bossuet).
What happened:
- She taught a form of mysticism known as Quietism, emphasizing passive prayer and total surrender of the soul to God.
- Quietism was condemned by the Church as a dangerous spiritual passivity.
- Arrested in 1688, imprisoned in the Bastille, and placed under house arrest for many years.
- Her teachings were examined and officially condemned by Catholic authorities.
Conclusion:
she was persecuted and imprisoned by the RCC.
2. MIGUEL (MICHAEL) DE MOLINOS (1628–1696)
Status: Harshly persecuted, condemned, and imprisoned for life.
What happened:
- Spanish priest, founder of the Quietist movement.
- Wrote The Spiritual Guide, promoting interior passivity and silent contemplation.
- The Inquisition arrested him in 1685.
- He was forced to confess under pressure, declared a heretic, and his works were banned.
- Sentenced to life imprisonment, where he died.
Conclusion:
he faced direct persecution by the Inquisition and died in prison.
3. FÉNELON (1651–1715)
Status: Opposed and condemned, but
not imprisoned.
What happened:
- Archbishop Fénelon sympathized with Madame Guyon’s mystical ideas.
- Wrote Maxims of the Saints defending a moderate form of Quietism.
- His work was examined in Rome and partially condemned by Pope Innocent XII in 1699.
- Fénelon submitted fully and remained in the Church.
Conclusion:
He was doctrinally condemned,
but not physically persecuted or imprisoned.
4. ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS (1542–1591)
Status: Yes — persecuted, imprisoned, and physically abused
by Catholic authorities within his own order, though later canonized.
What happened:
- He joined Teresa of Ávila to reform the Carmelite order (return to stricter spirituality).
- The unreformed Carmelite leadership opposed him.
- Kidnapped by his own order, put on trial, and imprisoned in a small cell in Toledo for about nine months.
- He was whipped, kept in harsh conditions, and nearly died.
- He eventually escaped and continued the Discalced Carmelite reform.
- Later recognized as a Doctor of the Church.
