banned priests, monks, nuns, and any who had previously occupied such positions from teaching in schools, and many members of the convention began calling for a “religion of patriotism” to supplant Catholic Christianity entirely. In November, the oath described in the Civil Constitution of the Clergy was drafted, and by the end of the year the Assembly proclaimed executive authority to enforce said oath. Refractory clergy The oath of loyalty created a massive schism within the clergy. Many lower clergy had supported revolutionary calls for reform, even reform within the Church, but this was beyond the pale. Thousands of priests, monks, and nuns now had to choose between refusing the oath and risking arrest and punishment, or taking the oath and risking their salvation. On 13 April 1791, the Pope forced the issue by issuing the papal encyclical Charitas, officially condemning the Revolution's actions towards the Church and leveling excommunication upon any clergy who took the oath. The clergy was then split into juring priests (those who took the oath) and non-juring or refractory priests (those who refused). Both factions could face persecution, as communities with strong revolutionary sentiments would beat, stone, or even kill non-juring priests, while in more religiously traditional communities juring priests could face similar assaults. This controversy was the first major issue to divide the popular masses on revolutionary reforms. Never had royalists or other counter-revolutionaries had popular constituencies, but there were many who believed the state had no right to meddle in the affairs of God to this degree and were loyal to their local priests. Also, sectors of France that had long-standing conflict with Protestant communities refused to support anything that threatened Catholic supremacy. Many clergy previously supportive of the Revolution were driven into opposition, and thousands of clergy hid or fled the country entirely. Impact While there were organized efforts to hunt down refractory priests and organized protests of religious ceremonies, many revolutionary leaders began to see all this as detrimental to the movement. Some were vehemently ethically opposed, such as Maximilien Robespierre, who argued that atheism was a dangerous product of aristocratic decadence, and believed that a moral society should at least acknowledge the provenance of a Supreme Being. Others had more practical objections, knowing that deep-seated religious beliefs would not be eliminated quickly, and that mobilizing popular support for the Revolution was of top importance. Dividing and alienating the masses over