Editing Pope Pius VII

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1800 to 1823}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
 | type              = Pope 
 | honorific-prefix  = [[List of popes|Pope]] [[Servant of God]]
 | name              = Pius VII
 | honorific_suffix = 
 | title             = [[Bishop of Rome]]
 | image             = Sir Thomas Lawrence - Portrait of Pope Pius VII.jpg
 | caption           = ''[[Portrait of Pope Pius VII (Lawrence)|Portrait of Pope Pius VII]]'' by [[Thomas Lawrence]], 1819
 | birth_name        = Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti
 | church            = [[Catholic Church]]
 | term_start        = 14 March 1800
 | term_end          = 20 August 1823
 | predecessor       = [[Pius VI]]
 | successor         = [[Leo XII]]
 | ordination        = 21 September 1765
 | ordinated_by      = 
 | consecration      = 21 December 1782
 | consecrated_by    = [[Francesco Saverio de Zelada]]
 | cardinal          = 14 February 1785
 | created_cardinal_by = [[Pope Pius VI|Pius VI]]
 | rank              = 
 | previous_post     = {{Indented plainlist|
* Abbot of [[San Paolo fuori le Mura]] (1775–1782)
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Tivoli|Bishop of Tivoli]] (1782–1785)
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Imola|Bishop of Imola]] (1785–1816)
* Cardinal-Priest of [[San Callisto]] (1785–1800)
}}
 | birth_date        = {{birth date|df=yes|1742|8|14}}
 | birth_place       = [[Cesena]], [[Papal States]]
 | death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|1823|8|20|1742|8|14}}
 | death_place       = [[Rome]], [[Papal States]]
 | motto             = 
 | signature         = Pius_VII_signature.svg{{!}}class=skin-invert
 | coat_of_arms      = C o a Pius VII.svg
 | other             = Pius
<!---------- Sainthood ---------->
 | feast_day         = 
 | venerated         = 
 | saint_title       = 
 | beatified_date    = 
 | beatified_place   = 
 | beatified_by      = 
 | canonized_date    = 
 | canonized_place   = 
 | canonized_by      = 
 | attributes        = 
 | shrine            = 
 | suppressed_date   = 
}}

'''Pope Pius VII''' ({{langx|it|Pio VII}}; born '''Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti''';{{efn|English: '''Barnabas Nicholas Maria Louis Chiaramonti'''}} 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the [[Catholic Church]] from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the [[Papal States]] from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again from 1814 to his death. Chiaramonti was also a [[monk]] of the [[Order of Saint Benedict]] in addition to being a well-known [[theologian]] and bishop.

Chiaramonti was made [[Bishop of Tivoli]] in 1782, and resigned that position upon his appointment as [[Bishop of Imola]] in 1785. That same year, he was made a [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]]. In 1789, the [[French Revolution]] took place, and as a result a series of anti-clerical governments came into power in the country. In 1798,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pius-VI | title=Pius VI &#124; pope &#124; Britannica | date=25 August 2023 }}</ref> during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], French troops under [[Louis-Alexandre Berthier]] invaded Rome and captured [[Pope Pius VI]], taking him as a prisoner to France, where he died in 1799. The following year, after a ''[[sede vacante]]'' period lasting approximately six months, Chiaramonti was elected to the papacy, taking the name Pius VII.

Pius at first attempted to take a cautious approach in dealing with Napoleon. With him he signed the [[Concordat of 1801]], through which he succeeded in guaranteeing religious freedom for [[Catholic Church|Catholics]] living in France, and was present at his coronation as [[Emperor of the French]] in 1804. In 1809, however, during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Napoleon once again invaded the [[Papal States]], resulting in his excommunication through the papal bull ''[[Quum memoranda]]''. Pius VII was taken prisoner and transported to [[French First Empire|France]]. He remained there until 1814 when, after the French were defeated, he was permitted to return to Italy, where he was greeted warmly as a hero and defender of the faith.

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 [[Canonization|canonizing]] him as a saint, and he was granted the title [[Servant of God]].

==Biography==
===Early life===
[[File:Pope Pius VII by Antonio Canova 1805, Albertinum, Dresden.jpg|thumb|upright|Pope Pius VII by [[Antonio Canova]] 1805, [[Albertinum]], Dresden]]
[[File:Cesena, casa natale di papa pio VII chiaramonti 01.JPG|thumb|left|140px|The birthplace of Pius VII]]
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 (? - 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.

Barnaba attended the Collegio dei Nobili in [[Ravenna]] but decided to join the [[Order of Saint Benedict]] at the age of 14 on 2 October 1756 as a novice at the [[Abbey of Santa Maria del Monte]] in Cesena. Two years after this on 20 August 1758, he became a professed member and assumed the name of ''Gregorio''.<ref name=Montor>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bqgbUCHi8OkC&dq=Abbey+of+St+Maria+del+Monte&pg=PA538 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]</ref> He taught at Benedictine colleges in [[Parma]] and [[Rome]], and was [[Holy orders (Catholic Church)|ordained]] a [[priesthood (Catholic Church)|priest]] on 21 September 1765.

===Episcopate and cardinalate===
A series of promotions resulted after his relative, Giovanni Angelo Braschi, was elected [[Pope Pius VI]] (1775–99).<ref name=Montor/> A few years before this election occurred, in 1773, Chiaramonti became the personal confessor to Braschi. In 1776, Pius VI appointed the 34-year-old [[Dom (title)|Dom]] Gregory, who had been teaching at the [[Monastery]] of [[Sant'Anselmo]] in Rome, as honorary [[abbot]] ''[[in commendam]]'' of his monastery. Although this was an ancient practice, it drew complaints from the monks of the community, as monastic communities generally felt it was not in keeping with the [[Rule of St. Benedict]]. He served as librarian at the [[Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls]].

In December 1782, the pope appointed Dom Gregory as the [[Bishop of Tivoli]], near [[Rome]]. Pius VI soon named him, in February 1785, the Cardinal-Priest of [[San Callisto]],<ref>[http://www.gcatholic.org/churches/cardinal/127.htm Cardinal Title S. Callisto] GCatholic.org</ref> and as the [[Bishop of Imola]], an office he held until 1816.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bchiar.html |access-date=21 March 2012 |title=Pope Pius VII (timeline) |publisher=Catholic Hierarchy}}</ref>

When the [[Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars|French Revolutionary Army invaded Italy]] in 1797, [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|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 "...&nbsp;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 [[democracy|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."<ref name=bokenkotter>Thomas Bokenkotter, ''Church and Revolution: Catholics in the Struggle for Democracy and Social Justice'' (NY: Doubleday, 1998), 32</ref>

==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]]

==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.

==Monuments==
Pope Pius VII's monument (1831) in [[St. Peter's Basilica]], adorning his tomb, was created by the [[Denmark|Danish]] sculptor [[Bertel Thorvaldsen]].

==Bibliography==
*[https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-vii/en.html Full list of Pius VII's writings (IT)]

===[[Encyclical]]s===
* ''Diu Satis'' | [https://www.papalencyclicals.net/pius07/p7diusat.htm Text (EN)] | [https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-vii/it/documents/enciclica-diu-satis-15-maggio-1800.html Text (IT)]
* ''Ex quo Ecclesiam'' | [https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-vii/it/documents/enciclica-ex-quo-ecclesiam-24-maggio-1800.html Text (IT)]
* ''Il trionfo'' | [https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-vii/it/documents/enciclica-il-trionfo-4-maggio-1814.html Text (IT)]
* ''Vineam quam plantavit'' | [https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-vii/it/documents/enciclica-vineam-quam-plantavit-12-giugno-1817.html Text (IT)]

===[[Motu proprio]]===
* ''[[Le più colte]]'' | [https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-vii/it/documents/motu-proprio-le-piu-colte-11-marzo-1801.html Text (IT)]

===[[Papal bull]]===
* ''[[Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo]]'' | [https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-vii/it/documents/bolla-ecclesiam-a-jesu-13-settembre-1821.html Text (IT)]

==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 (bishop)|John Carroll]], first US bishop
*[[List of popes]]
*[[Scipione Chiaramonti]]
<!--here until he can be worked into article--->

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12132a.htm ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' "Pope Pius VII"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311131632/http://www.damian-hungs.de/Papst%20Pius%20VII..html Pope Pius VII]

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |author = Mary H. Allies |author-link = Mary Allies |title=Pius the Seventh (1800-1823), by Mary H. Allies |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gephQwAACAAJ |year=1897 |publisher=Burns}}
* Anderson, Robin. ''Pope Pius VII'', [[TAN Books & Publishers|TAN Books & Publishers, Inc.]], 2001. {{ISBN|0-89555-678-2}}
* Browne-Olf, Lillian. ''Their Name Is Pius'' (1941) pp 59–130  [https://archive.org/details/TheirNameIsPius 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) [https://www.questia.com/read/54321342/the-emperor-and-the-pope-the-story-of-napoleon-and online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307224506/https://www.questia.com/read/54321342/the-emperor-and-the-pope-the-story-of-napoleon-and |date=7 March 2016 }}
* Thompson, J. M.''Napoleon Bonaparte: His Rise and Fall'' (1951) pp 251–75
* {{EnciclopediaDeiPapi|Verfasser=Philippe Boutry|ID=pio-vii_(Enciclopedia-dei-Papi)/|Lemma=Pio VII|Band=3|SeiteVon=|SeiteBis=|Kommentar=|kurz=}}
* {{BBKL |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070629054746/http://www.bautz.de/bbkl/p/pius_vii.shtml |band=7 |spalten=670-673|autor=Bernd Blisch}}
* [[Michael Matheus]], Lutz Klinkhammer (eds.): ''Eigenbild im Konflikt. Krisensituationen des Papsttums zwischen Gregor VII. und Benedikt XV.'' Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 2009, {{ISBN|978-3-534-20936-1}}.

== External links ==
*{{Commons category-inline|Pius VII}}
*{{wikisource author-inline}}
* {{DNB-Portal|118792431}}
* {{DDB|Person|118792431}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Giulio Matteo Natali]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Tivoli]]|years=16 December 1782 – 14 February 1785}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Giovanni Battista Banfi]]}}
{{s-break}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Giovanni Carlo Bandi]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Imola]]|years=14 February 1785 – 8 March 1816}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Antonio Lamberto Rusconi]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Tommaso Maria Ghilini]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[San Callisto|Cardinal-Priest of San Callisto]]|years= 26 June 1785 - 14 March 1800}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Carlo Giuseppe Filippa della Martiniana]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pius VI]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=14 March 1800 – 20 August 1823}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Leo XII]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
{{History of the Catholic Church}}

{{Catholicism}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Portalbar|Biography|Catholicism|Christianity|History|Italy}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pius 07}}
[[Category:Pope Pius VII| ]]
[[Category:Italian popes]]
[[Category:Bishops of Imola]]
[[Category:Bishops of Tivoli]]
[[Category:People from Cesena]]
[[Category:1742 births|Pius VII, Pope]]
[[Category:1823 deaths|Pius VII, Pope]]
[[Category:Cardinal-nephews]]
[[Category:18th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests]]
[[Category:19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests]]
[[Category:Benedictine bishops]]
[[Category:Benedictine popes]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]
[[Category:Italian Benedictines]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:19th-century popes]]
[[Category:Italian Servants of God]]
[[Category:Benedictine Servants of God]]
[[Category:Papal Servants of God]]
[[Category:Cardinals created by Pope Pius VI]]
[[Category:Anti-Masonry]]