The moment
The National Assembly put the Church's lands at the nation's disposal in November 1789, suppressed monastic vows, and on 12 July 1790 passed the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, turning bishops and priests into elected, salaried officials. An oath demanded that November split the clergy, nearly all bishops and many priests refusing, and Pope Pius VI condemned the scheme in 1791. In 1793–94 a campaign of dechristianisation replaced Catholic worship with a Cult of Reason and then Robespierre's Supreme Being, before Napoleon's Concordat with Pius VII in 1801 restored Catholic worship under state control.
People: Pope Pius VI, Maximilien Robespierre, Napoleon Bonaparte, Pope Pius VII