PopePiusVii

I was born Luigi Barnabà Chiaramonti at Cesena, Italy, on Aug. 14, 1740. At the age of 18 I entered the Benedictine monastery of S. Maria in my native city. I later became a teacher within the Benedictine order and was assigned to teach at the Benedictine colleges of Parma and Rome. I later through hard work was made bishop of Tivoli in 1782 and bishop of Imola in 1785. In the latter year he also received the cardinal's hat.

The conclave that elected me to the papal chair was forced to gather at Venice because of the chaos of Rome by French forces. Pius VI my father, had died in French captivity, and the resulting paralysis of the machinery of the Church evidenced itself in a consistory that took 7 months to elect a pope. I became Pope Pius VII on March 14, 1800.

My first task as pope was to establish a relationship with Napoleon I. Negotiations produced the Concordat of 1801, which removed the confusion that had plagued the French clergy since the promulgation of the Civil Constitution in 1790. The concordat stated that Roman Catholicism was the religion of most Frenchman, implying thereby that other religions would be tolerated. It further provided that the French clergy would be paid by the state, thereby tacitly closing the door to any hope that the property confiscated from the Church during the Revolution would be returned. In the following year the French government added to these provisions the so-called Organic Articles, which withdrew all papal jurisdiction from France except that specifically authorized by the government.I believe my most critical achievement was the Concordat of 1801, because it allowed the Catholic Church to gain control of French Catholics, while maintain social order.



Sam Paulsen Pd.4