Editing Pope Pius VII (section)

==Papacy==
{{Infobox popestyles
|image      = C o a Pius VII.svg
|dipstyle   = [[His Holiness]]
|offstyle   = Your Holiness
|relstyle   = Holy Father
|deathstyle = [[Servant of God]]
|}}

===Election===
{{main|Papal conclave, 1799–1800}}
[[File:Ile san giorgio.jpg|thumb|left|165px|Site of the papal conclave that elected Pius VII]]
Following the death of Pope Pius VI, by then virtually France's prisoner, at [[Valence, Drôme|Valence]] in 1799, the [[papal conclave|conclave]] to elect his successor met on 30 November 1799 in the Benedictine [[San Giorgio Monastery]] in Venice. There were three main candidates, two of whom proved to be unacceptable to the [[Habsburgs]], whose candidate, [[Alessandro Mattei]], could not secure sufficient votes. However, [[Carlo Bellisomi]] also was a candidate, though not favoured by [[Habsburg monarchy|Austrian]] cardinals; a "virtual veto"{{efn|Rather than formal invocation of the claimed [[papal veto]], this involved lobbying by the Austrian cardinals to deny him the necessary votes.}} was imposed against him in the name of [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II]] and carried out by Cardinal [[Franziskus Herzan von Harras]].<ref>J. P. Adams,  [http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1800.html ''Sede Vacante and Conclave, 1799-1800'']. Retrieved: 13 March 2016.</ref>
[[File:Tiara of Pope Pius VII, 1800.jpg|thumb|right|190px|The tiara made for the coronation of Pope Pius VII in [[Venice]], decorated with jewels donated by local families<ref>{{cite news| newspaper=[[The Independent]]| location=[[London]]| access-date=4 September 2017| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rhodri-marsdens-interesting-objects-pope-pius-viis-paper-crown-10116494.html| first=Rhodri| last=Marsden| title=Rhodri Marsden's Interesting Objects: Pope Pius VII's paper crown| date=21 March 2015}}</ref>]]
After several months of stalemate, [[Ercole Consalvi]] proposed Chiaramonti as a compromise candidate.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Pius VII |last=Boutry |first=Philippe |encyclopedia=The Papacy: An Encyclopedia |volume=2: Gaius-Proxies |editor-first1=Philippe |editor-last1=Levillain |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |page=1184}}</ref> On 14 March 1800, Chiaramonti was elected pope, certainly not the choice of die-hard opponents of the [[French Revolution]], and took as his pontifical name Pius VII in honour of his immediate predecessor.<ref name=bokenkotter /> He was [[papal coronation|crowned]] on 21 March—in the adjacent [[San Giorgio Maggiore (church), Venice|monastery church]] as Emperor Francis II was not pleased by the choice of the cardinal electors and did not allow them to use [[San Marco Basilica]] for the ceremony<ref name="OM1">{{cite book |last1=O'Malley |first1=John W. |title=A History of the Popes: From Peter to the Present |date=2011 |publisher=Sheed & Ward |isbn=978-1580512282 |page=232}}</ref>—by means of a rather unusual ceremony, wearing a [[papier-mâché]] [[Papal Tiara#Design|papal tiara]]—the French had seized the tiaras held by the Holy See when occupying Rome and forcing Pius VI into exile. The new pope then left for Rome, sailing on a barely seaworthy Austrian ship, the ''Bellona'', which lacked even a [[Galley (kitchen)|galley]]. The twelve-day voyage ended at [[Pesaro]] and he proceeded to Rome.

===Concordat of 1801===
[[File:Jacques-Louis David 018.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Pope Pius VII]]'', [[oil on wood]] by [[Jacques-Louis David]] (1805, [[Louvre]], Paris)]]

One of Pius VII's first acts was appointing the [[minor orders|minor cleric]] [[Ercole Consalvi]], who had performed so ably as secretary to the recent conclave, to the [[College of Cardinals]] and to the office of [[Cardinal Secretary of State]]. Consalvi immediately left for France, where he was able to negotiate the [[Concordat of 1801]] with the [[First Consul]] [[Napoleon]].<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04262a.htm Schaefer, Francis. "Ercole Consalvi." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908</ref> While not effecting a return to the old Christian order, the treaty did provide certain civil guarantees to the Church, acknowledging "the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion" as that of the "majority of French citizens".<ref name="georgetown1">{{cite web |url=http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/france |title=France |publisher=[[Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs]] |access-date=15 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206213909/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/france |archive-date=6 February 2011 |url-status=dead }} See drop-down essay on "The Third Republic and the 1905 Law of Laïcité"</ref>

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 [[Protestantism|Protestants]].
* The Pope had the right to depose [[bishop]]s.
* 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 [[coronation of Napoleon]] in 1804.

===Exile===
[[File:Pie VII Arrestation par le Général Radet.png|thumb|left|150px|The arrest of Pius VII]]
[[File:Le pape pie VII recevant l'extrême onction.jpg|thumb|left|Pius VII receives [[extreme unction]] while Napoleon's prisoner in 1812.]]
Due to a reluctance to align the Papal States join the [[Continental System]], France occupied and [[annexed the Papal States]] in 1809 and exiled Pius VII to [[Savona]]. On 15 November 1809 Pius VII consecrated the church at La Voglina, [[Valenza]], Piedmont with the intention of the Villa La Voglina becoming his spiritual base whilst in exile. His residency was short lived once Napoleon became aware of his intentions of establishing a permanent base and he was soon exiled to France. Despite this, the pope continued to refer to Napoleon as "my dear son" but added that he was "a somewhat stubborn son, but a son still".

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 [[abdication|abdicated]] on 11 April of that year.<ref>{{Cite book|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-46027-9|last=Aston|first=Nigel|title=Christianity and Revolutionary Europe ''c.'' 1750-1830|year=2002}}</ref> As soon as Pius VII returned to Rome, he immediately revived the [[Inquisition]] and the [[Index Librorum Prohibitorum|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)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pacca |first1=Cardinal Bartolomeo |title=Historical Memoirs of Cardinal Pacca, Prime Minister to Pius VII - Vol I (English translation) |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalmemoi00headgoog |website=Archive.org |publisher=Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans |access-date=11 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Pacca |first1=Cardinal Bartolomeo |title=Historical Memoirs of Cardinal Pacca, Prime Minister to Pius VII - Vol II (English translation) |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalmemoi01headgoog |website=Archive.org |publisher=Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans |access-date=11 May 2021}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Pius_VII.aspx|title=Pius VII|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com|date=2004|access-date=27 February 2015}}</ref>

===Relationship with Napoleon I===
[[File:Jacques-Louis David - The Coronation of Napoleon (1805-1807).jpg|thumb|Pope Pius VII presided over the [[coronation of Napoleon I]], as depicted by [[Jacques-Louis David]].]]
{{Main|Napoleon and the Catholic Church}}
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.<ref>J. M. Thompson, ''Napoleon Bonaparte: His Rise and Fall'' (1951) pp 251-75</ref>
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, Duchess of Parma|Marie Louise]], believing that his previous marriage was still valid, and had been exiled and impoverished in consequence of their stand,<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10687a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia 1914 entry on Napoleon I]</ref> along with several exiled or imprisoned prelates, priests, monks, nuns and other various supporters.
[[File:David-wilkie-Napoleon-and-pope-pius-vii-at-fontainebleau-1836.png|thumb|''[[Napoleon and Pius VII at Fontainebleau]]'' by [[David Wilkie (artist)|David Wilkie]], 1836]]

===Restoration of the Jesuits===
{{Main|Suppression of the Society of Jesus}}
On 7 March 1801, Pius VII issued the brief ''Catholicae fidei'' that approved the existence of the [[Society of Jesus]] in the [[Russian Empire]] and appointed its first superior general as [[Franciszek Kareu]]. This was the first step in the restoration of the order. On 31 July 1814, he signed the [[papal bull]] ''[[Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum]]'' which universally restored the Society of Jesus to its previous provinces, and the Jesuits began to resume their work in those countries.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Restored Jesuits (1814–1912) |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14100a.htm|access-date=2017-03-21 |website=Catholic Encyclopedia |publisher=newadvent.org}}</ref> He appointed [[Tadeusz Brzozowski]] as the [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus|Superior General of the order]].

[[Image:Pope Pius VII statue.JPG|thumb|left|100px|[[Vatican Museums]]]]

===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 [[Slavery in colonial Spanish America|Spain]] and [[Kingdom of Portugal|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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://roma.andreapollett.com/S1/roma-c9.htm|title = Curious and Unusual - Rome's Ghetto}}</ref>

===Other activities===
{{more citations needed|date=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 papal bull ''[[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 [[bible societies]] were acknowledged by [[Pope Gregory XVI]] in the latter's 1844 encyclical letter ''[[Inter praecipuas machinationes|Inter Praecipuas]]''.<ref>Pope Gregory XVI, [https://www.papalencyclicals.net/greg16/g16inter.htm Inter praecipuas], ''Papal Encyclicals Online'', paragraph 6, updated 20 February 2020, accessed 15 August 2023</ref>

Pius VII was multilingual and had the ability to speak Italian, French, English and [[Latin]].

[[File:Pie VII Travaux pour l'obélisque.png|thumb|right|195px|Pius VII reviews plans for the obelisk on the [[Quirinal Hill]].]]

===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 Vatican City|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 [[Angela Merici]], [[Benedict the Moor]], [[Saint Colette|Colette Boylet]], [[Francis Caracciolo (saint)|Francis Caracciolo]] and [[Hyacintha Mariscotti]]. He beatified a total of 27 individuals including [[Joseph Oriol]], [[Berardo dei Marsi]], [[Giuseppe Maria Tomasi]] and [[Crispin of Viterbo]].

===Consistories===

{{main|Cardinals created by Pius VII}}

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: [[Pope Leo XII|Annibale della Genga]] and [[Pope Pius VIII|Francesco Saverio Castiglioni]] (the latter of whom it is said Pius VII and his successor would refer to as "Pius VIII").

[[File:Leviation of pope Pius VII while Reading Mass Wellcome M0005442.jpg|thumb|left|160px|The "miracle" of Pius VII in 1811]]

In addition, Pius VII named 12 cardinals whom he reserved "''[[in pectore]]''". One died before his nomination could ever be published (he was originally nominated in the 1804 consistory), [[Marino Carafa di Belvedere]] resigned his cardinalate on 24 August 1807 upon citing a lack of family descendance, and [[Carlo Odescalchi]] resigned the cardinalate on 21 November 1838 to enter the [[Society of Jesus]].<ref name=SMC>{{cite web|url=https://cardinals.fiu.edu/consistories-xix.htm#PiusVII|title=Pius VII (1800-1823)|publisher=The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church|author=Salvador Miranda|date=|accessdate=22 February 2022}}</ref>

In 1801, according to [[Remigius Ritzler]], Pius VII nominated [[Paolo Luigi Silva]] as a cardinal ''in pectore'', however, he died before his name could be published. As a result, Pius VII added the Archbishop of Palermo [[Domenico Pignatelli di Belmonte]] in his place. In the March 1816 consistory, the former [[Ancient Diocese of Saint-Malo|bishop of Saint-Malo]] [[Gabriel Cortois de Pressigny]] was among the cardinals created ''in pectore'' in the consistory, though he declined the promotion. Similarly, Giovanni Alliata declined the pope's offer for elevation in the same consistory. According to Niccolò del Re, the [[Vice Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church|Vice-Camerlengo]] [[Tiberio Pacca]] would have been created a cardinal either in the March 1823 consistory, or a future one held by the pope. However, he suggests that a series of controversies beginning in 1820 prevented the pope from naming him to the Sacred College.<ref name=SMC/>

===The possible miracle of Pius VII===
On 15 August 1811 - the [[Feast of the Assumption]] - it is recorded that the pope celebrated Mass and was said to have entered a trance and began to levitate in a manner that drew him to the altar. This particular episode aroused great wonder and awe among attendants which included the French soldiers guarding him who were in disbelief of what had occurred.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scuolaecclesiamater.org/2015/08/il-miracolo-del-servo-di-dio-papa-pio.html|title=The miracle of the Servant of God Pope Pius VII Chiaramonti|publisher=Scuola Ecclesia Mater|date=15 August 2015|access-date=2 February 2016}}</ref>

===Relationship with the United States===
[[File:Pope Pius VII in the Sistine Chapel A29940.jpg|thumb|''[[Pope Pius VII in the Sistine Chapel]]'' by [[Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres]], 1814]]
On the [[United States]]' undertaking of the [[First Barbary War]] to suppress the Muslim [[Barbary pirates]] along the southern [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] coast, ending their [[Barbary slave trade|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."<ref>[http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_2_urbanities-thomas_jefferson.html Jefferson Versus the Muslim Pirates] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925204729/http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_2_urbanities-thomas_jefferson.html |date=25 September 2011 }} by [[City Journal (New York)|City Journal]]</ref>

For the United States, he established several new dioceses in 1808 for [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston|Boston]], [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York|New York City]], [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia|Philadelphia]] and [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bardstown|Bardstown]]. In 1821, he also established the dioceses of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston|Charleston]], [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond|Richmond]] and [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati|Cincinnati]].

===Condemnation of heresy===
On 3 June 1816, Pius VII condemned the works of [[Melkite Greek Catholic Church|Melkite]] bishop [[Germanos Adam]]. Adam's writings supported [[conciliarism]], the view that the authority of [[ecumenical council]]s was greater than that of the papacy.<ref>Fortescue, Adrian and George D. Smith, ''The Uniate Eastern Churches'', (First Giorgas Press, 2001), 210.</ref>

===Death and burial===
In 1822, Pius VII reached his 80th birthday and his health was visibly declining. On 6 July 1823, he [[hip fracture|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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Italy in the Age of the Risorgimento 1790 - 1870 |first=Harry |last=Hearder |publisher=Routledge  |year=2013 |page=104 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pope Pius VII|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12132a.htm|access-date=22 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=CHIARAMONTI, O.S.B.Cas., Gregorio Barnaba (1742-1823)|url=http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1785.htm#Chiaramonti|access-date=4 February 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>

[[Image:Grab Pius VII.jpg|thumb|left|175px|The tomb of Pius VII in Saint Peter's Basilica]]