Pope Pius VII

• 1. A Noble Novice In Cesena

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  Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti entered the world on the 14th of August 1742 in Cesena. He was the youngest son of Count Scipione Chiaramonti and Giovanna Coronata. His family held noble status but lacked significant wealth, placing them firmly within middle-class stock. Barnaba attended the Collegio dei Nobili in Ravenna during his youth. At age 14, he made a life-changing decision to join the Order of Saint Benedict. On the 2nd of October 1756, he became a novice at the Abbey of Santa Maria del Monte in Cesena. Two years later, on the 20th of August 1758, he took final vows as a professed member. He assumed the religious name Gregorio. The young monk taught at Benedictine colleges located in Parma and Rome. He received priestly ordination on the 21st of September 1765.

• 2. The Venetian Compromise

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  Pope Pius VI died while imprisoned by France at Valence in 1799. A conclave to elect his successor met on the 30th of November 1799 inside the Benedictine San Giorgio Monastery in Venice. Three main candidates emerged for the papacy. Two proved unacceptable to the Habsburgs, whose own candidate Alessandro Mattei failed to secure enough votes. Carlo Bellisomi also ran but faced a virtual veto from Cardinal Franziskus Herzan von Harras. After months of political stalemate, Ercole Consalvi proposed Chiaramonti as a compromise candidate. On the 14th of March 1800, Chiaramonti was elected pope. He chose the name Pius VII to honor his immediate predecessor. The coronation occurred on the 21st of March within the adjacent monastery church. Emperor Francis II refused to allow the use of San Marco Basilica due to displeasure with the choice. The new pope wore a papier-mâché tiara because French forces had seized the real jewels during their occupation of Rome. He then departed for Rome aboard the Austrian ship Bellona. The twelve-day voyage ended at Pesaro before he proceeded to the Eternal City.

• 3. The Concordat Of 1801

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  One of Pope Pius VII's first acts involved appointing Ercole Consalvi as Secretary of State. Consalvi immediately traveled to France to negotiate terms with Napoleon Bonaparte. They signed the Concordat of 1801 to restore relations between Church and State. The treaty acknowledged Catholicism as the religion of the majority of French citizens without making it the official state religion. It maintained religious freedom particularly regarding Protestants. The Pope retained the right to depose bishops while the state paid clerical salaries. Clergy were required to swear an oath of allegiance to the government. The church surrendered all claims to lands confiscated after 1790. Sunday was reestablished as a festival effective Easter Sunday, the 18th of April 1802. As pope, he followed a policy of cooperation with the French Republic and later Empire. He attended the coronation of Napoleon in 1804 as Emperor of the French.

• 4. Exile And Return To Rome

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  France occupied and annexed the Papal States in 1809 due to reluctance to align with the Continental System. Pius VII was exiled to Savona on the 15th of November 1809. He consecrated the church at La Voglina in Valenza intending it as his spiritual base. Napoleon soon became aware of these plans and ordered him moved to France. Despite this treatment, the pope continued referring to Napoleon as my dear son. This exile ended only when Pius VII signed the Concordat of Fontainebleau in 1813. One result included the release of exiled cardinals including Consalvi. Upon rejoining the papal retinue, they persuaded Pius VII to revoke concessions made in that treaty. Napoleon abdicated on the 11th of April 1814 allowing the Pope to return to Italy. When he arrived back in Rome in May 1814, Italians greeted him warmly as a hero. His imprisonment gave him an aura recognized as a living martyr by many observers.

• 5. Restoring The Jesuits

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  On the 7th of March 1801, Pius VII issued the brief Catholicae fidei approving the Society of Jesus within the Russian Empire. He appointed Franciszek Kareu as its first superior general. This marked the initial step toward universal restoration of the order. On the 31st of July 1814, he signed the papal bull Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum. This document universally restored the Society of Jesus to its previous provinces globally. The Jesuits began resuming their work in those countries immediately. He appointed Tadeusz Brzozowski as the Superior General of the order. The restoration allowed religious orders previously suppressed during revolutionary turmoil to operate freely again across Europe and beyond.

• 6. Dioceses In America

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  An application to commence beatification proceedings was lodged with the Holy See on the 10th of July 2006. Cardinal Camillo Ruini approved the request and transferred it to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. On the 24th of February 2007, the Congregation approved opening the cause responding to calls from Ligurian bishops. On the 15th of August 2007, Pope Benedict XVI declared nihil obstat regarding the cause of beatification. He now holds the title Servant of God. Work commenced the following month gathering documentation on the late pope's life. In late 2018, the Bishop of Savona announced continuation

• 7. Servant Of God Today

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  of the cause after initial preparation. A formal introduction occurred at a Mass celebrated in the Savona diocese on the 31st of October 2021. Father Giovanni Farris served as first postulator from 2007 to 2018. Fr. Giovanni Margara has served since 2018 leading current efforts toward sainthood recognition.