Editing Pope Pius VII (section)

==Beatification process==
{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix = [[Servant of God]]
|name             = Pius VII
|birth_name       = Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti
|birth_date       = {{birth-date|14 August 1742}}
|death_date       = {{death date and age|20 August 1823|14 August 1742|df=y}}
|feast_day        = 
|venerated_in     = [[Catholic Church]]
|image            = Teodoro Matteini, Ritratto di Pio VII, 1801.jpg
|caption          = 
|birth_place      = [[Cesena]], [[Papal States]]
|death_place      = [[Apostolic Palace]], Rome, Papal States
|titles           = [[Pope]]; [[Confessor]]
|attributes       = [[Papal vestments|Papal attire]]<br />[[Papal tiara]]<br />[[Religious habit|Benedictine habit]]
|patronage        = [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Savona-Noli|Diocese of Savona-Noli]]<br />[[Persecution of Christians|Persecuted Christians]]<br />[[Prisoner]]s }}
An application to commence beatification proceedings were lodged to the [[Holy See]] on 10 July 2006 and received the approval of Cardinal [[Camillo Ruini]] (the [[Cardinal Vicar of Rome|Vicar of Rome]]) who transferred the request to the [[Congregation for the Causes of Saints]]. The Congregation - on 24 February 2007 - approved the opening of the cause responding to the call of the Ligurian bishops.

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]].<ref>{{cite web|title = CHIARAMONTI, O.S.B.Cas., Gregorio Barnaba|url = http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1785.htm#Chiaramonti|access-date = 22 January 2014|archive-date = 2 February 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140202223127/http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1785.htm#Chiaramonti|url-status = dead}}</ref> 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 [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Savona-Noli|Diocese of Savona]] and the patron of prisoners.<ref name="Pope Pius VII returned to Savona">{{cite web|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.comune.savona.it/IT/Page/t07/view_html%3Fidp%3D8166&prev=search|title=Pope Pius VII returned to Savona|publisher=Comune di Savona|date=29 April 2015|access-date=21 August 2015}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsvn.it/rsvn/2018/11/03/settori/attualita/avviata-la-causa-di-beatificazione-per-pio-vii/|title=Avviata la causa di beatificazione per Pio VII|date=3 November 2018|publisher=RSVN.it|access-date=23 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223214515/http://www.rsvn.it/rsvn/2018/11/03/settori/attualita/avviata-la-causa-di-beatificazione-per-pio-vii/|archive-date=23 December 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ecodisavona.it/2021/10/18/in-cattedrale-la-prima-sessione-della-causa-di-beatificazione-di-pio-vii/|title=In Cattedrale la prima sessione della causa di beatificazione di Pio VII|date=18 October 2021|publisher=Sostieni l'eco di Savona|accessdate=19 October 2021|archive-date=18 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018175145/https://www.ecodisavona.it/2021/10/18/in-cattedrale-la-prima-sessione-della-causa-di-beatificazione-di-pio-vii/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The first [[postulator]] for the cause was Father Giovanni Farris (2007–18) and the current postulator since 2018 is Fr. Giovanni Margara.