Pope Pius VII
Leo XII | |
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Orders | |
Ordination | 21 September 1765 |
Consecration | 21 December 1782 by Francesco Saverio de Zelada |
Created cardinal | 14 February 1785 by Pius VI |
Personal details | |
Born | Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti 14 August 1742 |
Died | 20 August 1823 Rome, Papal States | (aged 81)
Previous post(s) |
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Motto | Aquila Rapax ("Rapacious eagle")[1] |
Signature | |
Coat of arms | |
Other popes named Pius |
Pope Pius VII (
Chiaramonti was made
Pius at first attempted to take a cautious approach in dealing with Napoleon. With him he signed the
Pius lived the remainder of his life in relative peace. His papacy saw a significant growth of the Catholic Church in the United States, where Pius established several new dioceses. Pius VII died in 1823 at age 81.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI began the process towards canonizing him as a saint, and he was granted the title Servant of God.
Biography
Early life
Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti was born in Cesena in 1742, the youngest son of Count Scipione Chiaramonti (30 April 1698 – 13 September 1750). His mother, Giovanna Coronata (d. 22 November 1777), was the daughter of the Marquess Ghini. Though his family was of noble status, they were not wealthy but rather, were of middle-class stock.[3]
His maternal grandparents were Barnaba Eufrasio Ghini and Isabella de' conti Aguselli. His paternal grandparents were Giacinto Chiaramonti (1673–1725) and Ottavia Maria Altini; his paternal great-grandparents were Scipione Chiaramonti (1642–1677) and Ottavia Maria Aldini. His paternal great-great-grandparents were Chiaramonte Chiaramonti and Polissena Marescalchi.
His siblings were Giacinto Ignazio (19 September 1731 – 7 June 1805), Tommaso (19 December 1732 – 8 December 1799) and Ottavia (1 June 1738 – 7 May 1814).
Like his brothers, he attended the Collegio dei Nobili in
Episcopate and cardinalate
A series of promotions resulted after his relative, Giovanni Angelo Braschi, was elected
In December 1782, the pope appointed Dom Gregory as the
When the French Revolutionary Army invaded Italy in 1797, Cardinal Chiaramonti counseled temperance and submission to the newly created Cisalpine Republic. In a letter that he addressed to the people of his diocese, Chiaramonti asked them to comply "... in the current circumstances of change of government (...)" to the authority of the victorious general Commander-in-Chief of the French army. In his Christmas homily that year, he asserted that there was no opposition between a democratic form of government and being a good Catholic: "Christian virtue makes men good democrats.... Equality is not an idea of philosophers but of Christ...and do not believe that the Catholic religion is against democracy."[7]
Papacy
Papal styles of Pope Pius VII | |
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His Holiness | |
Spoken style | Your Holiness |
Religious style | Holy Father |
Posthumous style | Servant of God |
Election
Following the death of Pope Pius VI, by then virtually France's prisoner, at
After several months of stalemate,
Negotiations and exile
One of Pius VII's first acts was appointing the
The main terms of the concordat between France and the pope included:
- A proclamation that "Catholicism was the religion of the great majority of the French" but was not the official religion, maintaining religious freedom, in particular with respect to Protestants.
- The Pope had the right to depose bishops.
- The state would pay clerical salaries and the clergy swore an oath of allegiance to the state.
- The church gave up all claims to church lands that were taken after 1790.
- Sunday was reestablished as a "festival", effective Easter Sunday, 18 April 1802.
As pope, he followed a policy of cooperation with the French Republic and subsequently Empire. He was present at the
This exile ended only when Pius VII signed the Concordat of Fontainebleau in 1813. One result of this new treaty was the release of the exiled cardinals, including Consalvi, who, upon re-joining the papal retinue, persuaded Pius VII to revoke the concessions he had made in it. This Pius VII began to do in March 1814, which led the French authorities to re-arrest many of the opposing prelates. Their confinement, however, lasted only a matter of weeks, as Napoleon abdicated on 11 April of that year.[11] As soon as Pius VII returned to Rome, he immediately revived the Inquisition and the Index of Condemned Books.
Cardinal Bartolomeo Pacca, who was kidnapped along with Pope Pius VII, took the office of Pro-Secretary of State in 1808 and maintained his memoirs during his exile. His memoirs, written originally in Italian, have been translated into English (two volumes)[12][13] and describe the ups and down of their exile and the triumphant return to Rome in 1814.
Pius VII's imprisonment did in fact come with one bright side for him. It gave him an aura that recognized him as a living martyr, so that when he arrived back in Rome in May 1814, he was greeted most warmly by the Italians as a hero.[14]
Relationship with Napoleon I
From the time of his election as pope to the fall of Napoleon in 1815, Pius VII's reign was completely taken up in dealing with France.[15] He and the Emperor were continually in conflict, often involving the French military leader's wishes for concessions to his demands. Pius VII wanted his own release from exile as well as the return of the Papal States, and, later on, the release of the 13 "Black Cardinals", i.e., the cardinals, including Consalvi, who had snubbed the marriage of Napoleon to Marie Louise, believing that his previous marriage was still valid, and had been exiled and impoverished in consequence of their stand,[16] along with several exiled or imprisoned prelates, priests, monks, nuns and other various supporters.
Restoration of the Jesuits
On 7 March 1801, Pius VII issued the brief Catholicae fidei that approved the existence of the
Opposition to slavery
Pius VII joined the declaration of the 1815 Congress of Vienna, represented by Cardinal Secretary of State Ercole Consalvi, and urged the suppression of the Atlantic slave trade. This pertained particularly to places such as Spain and Portugal where slavery was economically very important. The pope wrote a letter to King Louis XVIII of France dated 20 September 1814 and to King John VI of Portugal in 1823 to urge the end of slavery. He condemned the slave trade and defined the sale of people as an injustice to the dignity of the human person. In his letter to the king of Portugal, he wrote: "the pope regrets that this trade in blacks, that he believed having ceased, is still exercised in some regions and even more cruel way. He begs and begs the King of Portugal that it implement all its authority and wisdom to extirpate this unholy and abominable shame."
Reinstitution of Jewish Ghetto
Under Napoleonic rule, the Jewish Roman Ghetto had been abolished and Jews were free to live and move where they would. Following the restoration of Papal rule, Pius VII re-instituted the confinement of Jews to the Ghetto, having the doors closed at nighttime.[17]
Other activities
This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2018) |
Pius VII issued an encyclical Diu satis in order to advocate a return to the values of the Gospel and universalized the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows for 15 September. He condemned Freemasonry and the movement of the Carbonari in the encyclical Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo in 1821. Pius VII asserted that Freemasons must be excommunicated and it linked them with the Carbonari, an anti-clerical revolutionary group in Italy. All members of the Carbonari were also excommunicated.
His concerns about the work of non-Catholic
Pius VII was multilingual and had the ability to speak Italian, French, English and Latin.
Cultural innovations
Pius VII was a man of culture and attempted to reinvigorate Rome with archaeological excavations in Ostia which revealed ruins and icons from ancient times. He also had walls and other buildings rebuilt and restored the Arch of Titus. He ordered the construction of fountains and piazzas and erected the obelisk on the Pincian Hill.
The pope also made sure Rome was a place for artists and the leading artists of the time like Antonio Canova and Peter von Cornelius. He also enriched the Vatican Library with numerous manuscripts and books. It was Pius VII who adopted the yellow and white flag of the Holy See as a response to the Napoleonic invasion of 1809.
Canonizations and beatifications
Throughout his pontificate, Pius VII canonized a total of five saints. On 24 May 1807, Pius VII canonized
Consistories
Pius VII created 99 cardinals in nineteen consistories including notable ecclesial figures of that time such as Ercole Consalvi, Bartolomeo Pacca, and Carlo Odescalchi. The pope also named his two immediate successors as cardinals: Annibale della Genga and Francesco Saverio Castiglioni (the latter of whom it is said Pius VII and his successor would refer to as "Pius VIII").
In addition, Pius VII named 12 cardinals whom he reserved "
In 1801, according to
The possible miracle of Pius VII
On 15 August 1811 - the
Relationship with the United States
On the United States' undertaking of the First Barbary War to suppress the Muslim Barbary pirates along the southern Mediterranean coast, ending their kidnapping of Europeans for ransom and slavery, Pius VII declared that the United States "had done more for the cause of Christianity than the most powerful nations of Christendom have done for ages."[21]
For the United States, he established several new dioceses in 1808 for Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Bardstown. In 1821, he also established the dioceses of Charleston, Richmond and Cincinnati.
Condemnation of heresy
On 3 June 1816, Pius VII condemned the works of Melkite bishop Germanos Adam. Adam's writings supported conciliarism, the view that the authority of ecumenical councils was greater than that of the papacy.[22]
Death and burial
In 1822, Pius VII reached his 80th birthday and his health was visibly declining. On 6 July 1823, he fractured his hip in a fall in the papal apartments and was bedridden from that point onward. In his final weeks he would often lose consciousness and would mutter the names of the cities that he had been ferried away to by the French forces. With the Cardinal Secretary of State Ercole Consalvi at his side, Pius VII died on 20 August at 5 a.m.[23]
He was briefly interred in the Vatican Grottoes but was later buried in a monument in St. Peter's Basilica after his funeral on 25 August.[24][25]
Beatification process
Patronage | Diocese of Savona-Noli Persecuted Christians Prisoners |
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An application to commence beatification proceedings were lodged to the
On 15 August 2007, the Holy See contacted the diocese of Savona-Noli with the news that Pope Benedict XVI had declared "nihil obstat" (nothing stands against) the cause of beatification of the late pontiff, thus opening the diocesan process for this pope's beatification. He now has the title of Servant of God.[26] The official text declaring the opening of the cause was: "Summus Pontifex Benedictus XVI declarat, ex parte Sanctae Sedis, nihil obstare quominus in Causa Beatificationis et Canonizationis Servi Dei Pii Barnabae Gregorii VII Chiaramonti". Work on the cause commenced the following month in gathering documentation on the late pope.
He has since been elected as the patron of the Diocese of Savona and the patron of prisoners.[27]
In late 2018 the Bishop of Savona announced that the cause for Pius VII would continue following the completion of initial preparation and investigation. The bishop named a new postulator and a diocesan tribunal which would begin work into the cause.[28] The formal introduction to the cause (a diocesan investigation into the late pontiff's life) was held at a Mass celebrated in the Savona diocese on 31 October 2021.[29]
The first postulator for the cause was Father Giovanni Farris (2007–18) and the current postulator since 2018 is Fr. Giovanni Margara.
Monuments
Pope Pius VII's monument (1831) in St. Peter's Basilica, adorning his tomb, was created by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen.
Bibliography
Encyclicals
- Diu Satis | Text (EN) | Text (IT)
- Ex quo Ecclesiam | Text (IT)
- Il trionfo | Text (IT)
- Vineam quam plantavit | Text (IT)
Motu proprio
Papal bull
See also
- Apostolic Prefecture of the United States
- Cardinals created by Pius VII
- Jacob Anton Zallinger zum Thurn, papal councillor in German affairs (1805 - 1806)
- John Carroll, first US bishop
- List of popes
- Scipione Chiaramonti
Notes
- ^ English: Barnabas Nicholas Maria Louis Chiaramonti
- papal veto, this involved lobbying by the Austrian cardinals to deny him the necessary votes.
References
Citations
- ^ "Pope Pius VII (1800-1823)". GCatholic. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ "Pius VI | pope | Britannica". 25 August 2023.
- ^ "Pius VII, pope". Geneall. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ^ a b Artaud de Montor, The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontifs, from St. Peter to Pius IX, Volume 2, D. & J. Sadlier, 1866, p. 538
- ^ Cardinal Title S. Callisto GCatholic.org
- ^ "Pope Pius VII (timeline)". Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
- ^ a b Thomas Bokenkotter, Church and Revolution: Catholics in the Struggle for Democracy and Social Justice (NY: Doubleday, 1998), 32
- ^ J. P. Adams, Sede Vacante and Conclave, 1799-1800.. Retrieved: 13 March 2016.
- ^ Schaefer, Francis. "Ercole Consalvi." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908
- ^ "France". Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Archived from the original on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011. See drop-down essay on "The Third Republic and the 1905 Law of Laïcité"
- ISBN 978-0-521-46027-9.
- ^ Pacca, Cardinal Bartolomeo. "Historical Memoirs of Cardinal Pacca, Prime Minister to Pius VII - Vol I (English translation)". Archive.org. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ Pacca, Cardinal Bartolomeo. "Historical Memoirs of Cardinal Pacca, Prime Minister to Pius VII - Vol II (English translation)". Archive.org. Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "Pius VII". Encyclopedia.com. 2004. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
- ^ J. M. Thompson, Napoleon Bonaparte: His Rise and Fall (1951) pp 251-75
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia 1914 entry on Napoleon I
- ^ "Curious and Unusual - Rome's Ghetto".
- ^ Pope Gregory XVI, Inter praecipuas, Papal Encyclicals Online, paragraph 6, updated 20 February 2020, accessed 15 August 2023
- ^ a b Salvador Miranda. "Pius VII (1800-1823)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
- ^ "The miracle of the Servant of God Pope Pius VII Chiaramonti". Scuola Ecclesia Mater. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- City Journal
- ^ Fortescue, Adrian and George D. Smith, The Uniate Eastern Churches, (First Giorgas Press, 2001), 210.
- ^ Hearder, Harry (2013). Italy in the Age of the Risorgimento 1790 - 1870. Routledge. p. 104.
- ^ "Pope Pius VII". Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ^ "CHIARAMONTI, O.S.B.Cas., Gregorio Barnaba (1742-1823)". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
- ^ "CHIARAMONTI, O.S.B.Cas., Gregorio Barnaba". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ^ "Pope Pius VII returned to Savona". Comune di Savona. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
- ^ "Avviata la causa di beatificazione per Pio VII". RSVN.it. 3 November 2018. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
- ^ "In Cattedrale la prima sessione della causa di beatificazione di Pio VII". Sostieni l'eco di Savona. 18 October 2021. Archived from the original on 18 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
Sources
Further reading
- Mary H. Allies (1897). Pius the Seventh (1800-1823), by Mary H. Allies. Burns.
- Anderson, Robin. Pope Pius VII, ISBN 0-89555-678-2
- Browne-Olf, Lillian. Their Name Is Pius (1941) pp 59–130 online
- Caiani, Ambrogio. 2021. To Kidnap a Pope: Napoleon and Pius VII. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300251333
- Hales, E. E. Y. "Napoleon's duel with the Pope" History Today (May 1958) 8#5 pp 328–33.
- Hales, E. E. Y. The Emperor and the Pope: The Story of Napoleon and Pius VII (1961) online Archived 7 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Thompson, J. M.Napoleon Bonaparte: His Rise and Fall (1951) pp 251–75
- Philippe Boutry: Pio VII. In: Massimo Bray (ed.): Enciclopedia dei Papi. Volume 3: Innocenzo VIII, Giovanni Paolo II. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2000 (treccani.it)
- Bernd Blisch (1994). "Pope Pius VII". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 7. Herzberg: Bautz. cols. 670–673. ISBN 3-88309-048-4.
- ISBN 978-3-534-20936-1.
External links
- Media related to Pius VII at Wikimedia Commons
- Works by or about Pius VII at Wikisource
- Literature by and about Pope Pius VII in the German National Library catalogue
- Works by and about Pope Pius VII in the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library)