Pope Pius VII
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| Pius VII | |
 Portrait by Jacques-Louis David |
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| Papacy began | March 14, 1800 |
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| Papacy ended | August 20, 1823 |
| Predecessor | Pius VI |
| Successor | Leo XII |
| Birth name | Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti |
| Born | August 14, 1740 Cesena, Italy |
| Died | August 20, 1823 (aged 83) Rome, Italy |
| Other popes named Pius | |
Pope Pius VII, OSB (August 14, 1740—August 20, 1823), born Count Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was Pope from March 14, 1800 to August 20, 1823.
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[edit] Early life
Chiaramonti was born at Cesena, the son of count Scipione Chiaramonti; his mother, Giovanna Chiaramonti, was the daughter of the marquese Ghini and was related to the Braschi family. He joined the Benedictine order in 1756 at the Abbey of S.Maria del Monte of Cesena and changed his first name to Gregorio. He then became a teacher at Benedictine colleges in Parma and Rome. His career became a series of promotions following the election of a family friend, Giovanni Angelo Braschi, as Pope Pius VI (1775–99). In 1776 Pius VI appointed the 34-year old Barnaba, who had been teaching at the monastery of S. Anselmo in Rome, honorary abbot in commendam of his monastery, to complaints from the brothers. After making him bishop of Tivoli, near Rome, Pius VI made him a cardinal and Bishop of Imola in February 1785.
From the time French forces invaded Italy in 1797, the cardinal cautioned temperance and submission to the Cisalpine Republic. In his Christmas homily that year in 1797 he asserted that there was no opposition between a democratic form of government and being a good Catholic: "Be good catholics and you will be good democrats", said the bishop.
[edit] Election as Pope
| Papal styles of Pope Pius VII |
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| Reference style | His Holiness |
| Spoken style | Your Holiness |
| Religious style | Holy Father |
| Posthumous style | None |
Following the death of Pius VI, virtually France's prisoner, at Valence in August 1799, the conclave met on November 30, 1799 in the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio, Venice. There were three main candidates, two of whom proved to be unacceptable to the Habsburgs, whose candidate, Alessandro Cardinal Mattei, could not secure sufficient votes. After several months of stalemate, Chiaramonti was elected as a compromise candidate. He was elected Pope Pius VII at Venice on March 21, 1800 in a rather unusual coronation, wearing a papier-mâché papal tiara, the original having been seized by the French along with Pius VI. Then an Austrian vessel, the "Bellona", brought him to Pesaro, from where he reached Rome by land.
One of Pius VII's first acts was to appoint Ercole Consalvi, who had acted as secretary to the recent conclave, to the college of cardinals and to the office of secretary of state.
[edit] Relationship with Napoleon I
From the beginning of his papacy to the fall of Napoleon I of France in 1815, Pius VII was completely involved with France.[clarification needed] He and Napoleon were continually in conflict, often involving the French military leader's wishes for concessions to his demands. The Pope almost always gave in to Napoleon. The pope wanted the return of the Papal States, and, later on, the release of the 13 Black Cardinals[1][2] along with several exiled or imprisoned clergymen, monks, nuns, priests, other various supporters including his secretaries of state, and his own release from exile.
[edit] Relationship with the United States of America
On the United States' suppression of the Muslim Barbary Pirates along the southern Mediterranean coast, who kidnapped Christians for ransom and slavery, Pope Pius VII said that the United States “had done more for the cause of Christianity than the most powerful nations of Christendom have done for ages.”[3]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Cardinals who snubbed the marriage of Napoleon to Marie Louise, believing that his previous marriage was still valid
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia 1914 entry on Napoleon I
- ^ Jefferson Versus the Muslim Pirates by City Journal
[edit] Monuments
- Pope Pius VII's monument (1831) in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, is by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, a Protestant.
[edit] Bibliography
- Pope Pius VII, by Robin Anderson, TAN Books and Publishers, Inc, 2001. ISBN 0-89555-678-2
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Roman Catholic Church titles | ||
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| Preceded by Giulio Matteo Natali |
Bishop of Tivoli 1782 – 1785 |
Succeeded by Giovanni Battista Banfi |
| Preceded by Giovanni Carlo Cardinal Bandi |
Bishop of Imola 1785 – 1816 |
Succeeded by Antonio Lamberto Cardinal Rusconi |
| Preceded by Pius VI |
Pope 1800 – 1823 |
Succeeded by Leo XII |
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