Back Pous Pius VII Afrikaans Pius VII. ALS بيوس السابع Arabic بيوس السابع ARZ VII Piy Azerbaijani Пій VII Byelorussian Піюс VII BE-X-OLD Пий VII Bulgarian Pi VII Breton Pius VII Catalan
Pius VII | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rome | |
 Portrait by Thomas Lawrence, 1819 | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | 14 March 1800 |
| Papacy ended | 20 August 1823 |
| Predecessor | Pius VI |
| Successor | Leo XII |
| Previous post(s) |
|
| 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 (aged 81) Rome, Papal States |
| Motto | Aquila Rapax ("Rapacious eagle")[1] |
| Signature |  |
| Coat of arms |  |
| Other popes named Pius | |
Pope Pius VII (Italian: Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti;[a] 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. 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,[2] 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 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 France. He remained there until 1814 when, after the French were defeated, he was permitted to return to Rome, 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 canonizing him as a saint, and he was granted the title Servant of God.
- ^ "Pope Pius VII (1800-1823)". GCatholic. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ "Pius VI | pope | Britannica". 25 August 2023.
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