Pope Pius VII attended by Cardinal Caprara
observes Napoleon crown Josephine after
first crowning himself
DUNGEONS FIRE AND SWORD
by Tony Dixon
Within
the hallowed walls of great Notre Dame de Paris, only a few years after
its desecration during the period of the Revolution, on a cold 2nd
December, 1804, the air was charged with great excitement. Thousands
crammed the great Cathedral for the coronation of “the little Corporal”
Napoleon Bonaparte recently declared “Emperor of the French” by the
Senate of the Republic. The Pope – Pius VII – had been invited to
officiate. Pius VII had agreed to officiate against the weighty advice
of many of his Cardinals. The ceremony progressed to the crucial moment
of coronation, when to the surprise of many; Napoleon took the Crown
from the Altar and placed it upon his own head. He then took Josephine’s
Crown and touched it to her head before returning it to the altar.
Absurdly bedecked in specially invented “classical” robes, he had
demonstrated that he was beholden to no-one for the crown, not even the
Pope. This procedure was carefully crafted by Napoleon and accepted by
the Holy See beforehand. Yet his calculating mind did want the Pope
there to lend credibility to the exercise. For his part Pius VII had
accepted in order to give heart to the Catholic people of France who had
suffered so much during the Revolution and in the hope that he might
gain opportunities to ameliorate their position by gaining concessions
from the conqueror Napoleon.
Napoleon prepares to crown Josephine before returning her crown
to the High Altar
INTERESTING TIMES
“May
you live in interesting times” is said to be a Chinese curse. It was
the unhappy experience of Barnaba Niccolo Maria Luigi Chiaramonti to do
just that. He was born on 14th August, 1742 in Cesena Italy, as was his
predecessor Pope Pius VI 25 years earlier. Devout and scholarly, Barnaba
joined the Benedictines at age 14 years taking Gregorio as his name in
religion. He went on to study in Padua and Rome in philosophy and
theology. In the course of his philosophy studies he became familiar
with the ideas of John Locke the British philosopher whose ideas on the
right to life, liberty and property, the state of nature, “the consent
of the governed” and the infant mind as “tabula rasa” have had such a
profound influence in the world.
He
spent 9 years as Professor of Theology at Parma (1766-1775) and 6 years
as a Professor at Sant. Anselmo in Rome. Pope Pius VI, his fellow
native of Cesena, made him Bishop of Tivoli in 1782 and, in 1785,
translated him to the more important See of Imola and named him Cardinal
in the same Year. He remained in Imola for 15 years and was the very
model of all a Bishop should be, caring for his people in both the
spiritual and the temporal spheres. For his time, his thinking was truly
advanced. His Christmas Day sermon at Imola in 1797 spoke firmly and
unequivocally in defense of democracy and its complete compatibility
with Christianity.
These
certainly were interesting times. While Don Gregorio was a Professor in
Parma, the Prussians, Russians and Austrians carved up Poland to their
mutual satisfaction in 1772.And in the same year, the infamous
suppression of the Jesuit Order was decreed by Pope Clement XIV under
vicious pressure from the Kings of Spain, Portugal and France. In
1774-1775 in a 134 day Conclave, Pope Pius VI was elected. In 1776 while
Don Gregorio was teaching in Rome, the American colonies declared their
independence from the King of England. While he was still teaching
there, the Austrian Emperor in 1781 promulgated his Toleration Edict
allowing all religions equal rights in his Catholic dominion – a marked
reverse for the Church. In 1783-84 while Bishop Chiaramonti was in
Tivoli, Pius VI found it necessary to secretly approve the Empress
Catherine II’s encouragement of the survival of the Jesuits in Russia.
In
1786 whilst Cardinal Chiaramonti was at Imola the notorious Synod of
Pistoia was convened by Bishop Scipio de’Ricci. It met and supported a
number of proposals seeking to avoid the legitimate authority of the
Popes. The Synod had the keen support of a number of civil authorities
in various countries, keen to arrogate to themselves the right to choose
who should be consecrated a Bishop, to facilitate their control over
the Church. After much painful endeavour to correct the resulting
situation without exacerbating matters, Pius VI found it necessary
finally to condemn the Synod of Pistoia and its propositions outright,
and to force the resignation of Bishop de’Ricci.
But
the degeneration of European affairs was about to lurch into a
sickening downward spiral of insanity and violence with the French
Revolution of 1789. As Cardinal Chiaramonti continued his enlightened
care for the Archdiocese of Imola, on All Souls’ Day 1789 all French
Church property was nationalized or otherwise stolen. On 13th February,
1790 the law purported to suppress monastic vows and religious orders.
On 12th July, 1790 the Government proclaimed the Civil Constitution of
the Clergy and demanded that they take an oath of loyalty to the State.
On
10th March, 1791 Pope Pius VI condemned the Civil Constitution of the
Clergy and on 13th April he published the Encyclical “CARITAS”
confirming that condemnation and condemning the unauthorized appointment
of Bishops. On 20th April, 1792 France declared war on Austria. King
Louis XVI was executed on 21st January, 1793. And to complete the
settings of horror, the Reign of Terror commenced on 5th September, 1793
The
Anti Clerical Law was passed on 21st October, 1793 making the clergy
and their supporters liable to death on sight. As if to celebrate the
rule of diabolical insanity, on 10th November, 1793 came the desecration
of Notre Dame Cathedral with the “Celebration of the Goddess Reason”.
Pius
VI still maintained his staunch condemnation of the French outrages
even when the French forces commanded by Bonaparte seized Milan in the
spring of 1796. Bonaparte then pressed on into the Papal States.
Ultimately, the French entered Rome on 15th February, 1798, proclaimed a
Roman Republic and deposed Pope Pius VI as Head of State. They were
shocked to receive no popular support for their actions, but instead,
open hostility. This reached a peak in the shooting of the French
General Duphot. The Pope was taken prisoner and moved to Florence then
to Turin then to Briancon across the Alps, and finally to Valence, He
was imprisoned there, died there and was buried there, but not before
having given instructions concerning the Conclave to elect his successor
which would keep it free from French “influence”.
The situation of Holy Church at that time was truly perilous.
CONCLAVE
Venice
was the chosen venue. It had the double advantage of being an Austrian
territory at the time and of being Italian soil. The assembled Cardinals
were divided about what to do in the face of the horrors afflicting the
Church in the last eleven years. They were also divided on the question
of restoring the Jesuit Order, lest the wrath of the anti – Jesuit
monarchs should serve to multiply the Church’s torments. For 134 days
they were divided, until at last they followed the promptings of the
Holy Spirit. Cardinal Barnaba Chiaramonti was their choice, and, in
honour of his predecessor, fellow native of Cesena and family friend, he
took the name Pius VII. The new Pope was known for his holiness,
gentleness and scholarly achievements and his modern outlook. He chose
as his Secretary of State Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, a truly brilliant
man. Rejecting Austrian pressure to remain in Austrian territory, Pius
VII returned to Rome on 3rd July, 1800. By 1802 he had been able to
recover the body of his predecessor and have it appropriately interred
in St. Peter’s Basilica.
PIUS VII - THE MAN
We
know a great deal about this revered Pontiff from history itself. But
we are doubly blessed by the memoir of him written by the Englishman
Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman. On 18th December, 1818 the young Wiseman
arrived in Rome with a small group of fellow seminarians to re-occupy
and re-establish the Venerable English College. Pius VII had appointed
Fr Robert Gradwell Rector one year earlier to prepare for their arrival.
Made aware of their arrival, Cardinal Consalvi arranged a Papal
Audience for them within a few days – Christmas Eve in fact.
The
Audience took place in the Quirinal Palace which was as yet the Papal
Residence. Years later, by now a Cardinal, Wiseman would recall the
gentle, fatherly warmth of the Pope’s greeting to the group of young
seminarians, walking forward to greet them as they were introduced, and
urging them to learning and piety. He trusted that they would do honour
to Rome and their own country by their achievements. Everything about
his manner confirmed all that Wiseman had been told of his gentleness,
kindness of speech and genuine concern for individuals. He felt an
instant bond, both spiritual and human with this man he perceived to be
great and good. “That he was a man so meek and gentle, so incapable of
rancor and resentment that Cardinal Pacca scruples not to apply to him
the inspired words descriptive of Moses, “that he was the Mildest of men
“no-one has ever questioned. This particular quality may be called the
very grace of his nature, so distinctly was it stamped on his outward
appearance, so penetratingly diffused through the actions of his life”.
The
Cardinal goes on to speak of Pius VII’s strength of character as “the
companion of the gentlest disposition, a power of unrepining endurance,
the patient fortitude which suffers without complaint and without
sullenness”.
He
recalls also the saintly character of the Pope’s mother, speaking of
her rare piety and virtue which had clearly been greatly influential
upon her son. When he had reached 21 years, and all her children were
educated and mature, she retired into the Carmelite convent at Fano
where she was held in great regard on account of her sanctity. Cardinal
Wiseman recounts that Pius VII was known to have related several times
his mother’s prediction that he would one day be Pope and “the
protracted course of sufferings which it would entail”. The austerity
and humility of his early religious life as a Benedictine monk in those
days was to stand him in good stead in the trying years of his papacy as
a prisoner of the French and witness to the bloody persecution of the
Church and the plunder of her establishments.
Wiseman
also recounts that the Pope told his learned Secretary Monsignor Testa
how, in his energetic youth as a monk he had been allowed to go to Rome
for the coronation of Pope Clement XIV. Being jostled by the crowd, he
leapt up behind an empty horse-drawn carriage for a better view. The
coachman turned benignly toward him saying: “My dear little monk, why
are you so anxious to see a function which one day will fall to your
lot?”.
The
young Don Gregorio harbored no ambitions for high clerical office.
Even if he had, it seemed that Pope Pius VI’s choice of his brother
Gregory for appointment to the Ecclesiastical Academy ,when he decided to
honor the Chiaramonti family, would have put paid to them
AT THE MERCY OF A MONSTER
Napoleon
Bonaparte’s election as “Emperor of the French “by the French Senate –
undoubtedly at the “little corporal’s” instigation (he was fond of Roman
allusions. having earlier styled himself Consul) – had now to be
formalised.The coronation we considered earlier achieved this. Pius VII
had been apprehensive about granting Napoleon’s request that he
officiate. He had seen the fate of his predecessor. He realized the risk
of his own capture and imprisonment at the whim of the “Emperor”.
Accordingly he had signed a conditional act of abdication and left it
with the Curia to ensure the continued governance of the Church in such a
case. Despite his apprehension, he felt obliged to go to France in the
hope that his presence might bring consolation and encouragement to
French Catholics, whose situation had become so wretched. He also hoped
that in negotiations with Napoleon he might be able to achieve some
amelioration in the condition of the Church in France
The
reception accorded the Pope in France was not encouraging. No great
formality had been arranged. He was met by Napoleon and a hunting party
in open country, and obliged to accept the inferior seat in Napoleon’s
carriage. He was brought into Paris under cover of night. Napoleon, who
had been contemplating divorce of his civil law wife Josephine, was
taken aback when he learned that, shortly after arriving, Pius VII had
informed Josephine that she should be sacramentally married. Further,
the Pope had informed her that until that happened he could not
participate in the coronation. He gave Cardinal Fesch, who was very
close to Bonaparte the necessary dispensations and faculties to preside
at the wedding without witnesses as Napoleon required. It took place at
4.00 p.m. at the Tuilleries on the day before the coronation. Napoleon
was furious at the Pope’s legitimate insistence.
When the coronation took place the official publication “Moniteur “suppressed the fact that Napoleon had crowned himself.
Following
the coronation, Pius VII – who had been given only the briefest
opportunities to speak to Napoleon – set out in a Memorandum to the new
emperor his concerns for the Church in France. He sought:
recognition that the Catholic Church was the principal religion of France, as it was
that the law permitting divorce should be repealed
that religious communities should be re-established
that the various Legations should be restored to the Holy See
All
to no avail. The only concession Napoleon proposed was his offer to
restore the Gregorian calendar from 1st January, 1806 in place of the
Revolutionary Calendar. Pius VII left Paris on 4th April, 1805.
Although
Napoleon was, in early days, lauded by many of the clergy and laity,
who viewed his actions through patriotically – tinged eyeglasses, he
began to steadily, but more and more manically, tighten the screws on
the Church. In 1806 he required all religious periodicals to be combined
into one – the “Journal des Cures “to be published under police
supervision. In August 1806 he established the Feast of St Napoleon –
after the martyr Neopolis/Neopolas who suffered in Egypt under
Diocletian. Warming to the theme of his own religious exaltation, he
required publication of a new Catechism throughout his empire which
called him “the image of God upon earth” and “the Lord’s Anointed” The
prisons of Vincennes, Fenestrelles and Isle de Sainte Marguerite were to
hold priests who offended against the emperor’s requirements
Napoleon
and Pius VII’s dealings became less and less satisfactory to “the
little corporal”. The Pope did not attend Napoleon’s May, 1805 crowning
in Milan with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. The Pope could not declare
null the marriage of Jerome Bonaparte (Napoleon’s brother) to Elizabeth
Patterson, an American, as Napoleon wished. Napoleon “arranged “for
Church authorities in Paris to comply and do the job. Next Napoleon
introduced French Law into Italy, including the Divorce Law, despite the
protests of the Holy See.
The
idea of invading England, long Napoleon’s great ambition, went into the
waste bin as Napoleon realized the impossibility of this venture after
his navy’s defeat at Trafalgar (21st October, 1805). He attacked the
Austrians taking Vienna. Toward the end of 1805 he defeated the combined
forces of Austria and the Tsar at Austerlitz. He went on to capture
Dalmatia, Venice, Bavaria and Wurtemburg. England might rule the waves,
but Napoleon was clearly the Master of Europe.
Turning
his attention to the Papal States, he occupied the Papal port of Ancona
to prevent British or Russian support for the Papal States, despite the
Pope’s protests. Napoleon had declared all his ports closed to British
vessels and he wanted the Papal States to do the same. He also
complained that the Pope had delayed the appointment of Bishops in
France and Italy. In the course of these demands he referred to himself
as the “Emperor of Rome”- a city he was never to see. The Pope responded
in a very fine letter refusing Napoleon’s demands, and reminding him
that there was no “Emperor of Rome”. He noted that no matter what
calamity might be inflicted upon him on account of his refusal, he would
bear it with “a resignation conformable with the Gospel”. Napoleon
repeated his demands with new emissaries. In May, 1806 he invaded and
occupied Civita Vecchia. In June he seized Benevento and Pontecorvo. He
demanded that the Pope acknowledge Joseph Napoleon as King of Naples. He
took a particular dislike to the brilliant Cardinal Consalvi who
reluctantly resigned as Pius VII’s Secretary of State to ease the
situation. His replacement, Cardinal Casoni, proved no more
accommodating. Napoleon’s violent response was blunted somewhat by other
distractions. In the first half of 1807, in a series of victories he
took control of Germany and proceeded to divide up various portions of
Europe allotting them to members of his family as “Kings” and his
Marshalls received Principalities and Duchies. He created a hereditary
nobility to surround his throne.
He
began to rant at the Pope that he must become his ally if not, he raved
he would call a Council of the Church in his empire to “transact my
business” without the Pope. Seeking to save the Church in Europe from
that precipice, the Pope sent an envoy to Paris saying that he would
join the continental blockade and end all contact with the British, but
he would not declare war on Napoleon’s enemies. But Napoleon wanted to
break with the Papal States. Whilst negotiations dragged on, he invaded
the Papal provinces of Macerata, Spoleto, Urbino and Foligno. Pius VII
broke off the negotiations.
In
January 1808 Napoleon ordered his forces to march on Rome. 10,000
French troops under General Miollis took the City on 2nd February 1808.
In the ensuing days Miollis arrested 7 Cardinals and exiled them from
the City. One month later another 14 Cardinals suffered the same fate
including Cardinal Doria Pamphili who was the latest Secretary of State.
When Miollis sought to arrest his successor Cardinal Pacca the Pope
interposed himself saying that Miollis could not do so without arresting
him also. Thereafter Cardinal Pacca resided in the Quirinal Palace
also.
Later
in 1808 the fierce resistance of the Spaniards to Napoleon’s invasion
pre-occupied him and eased the pressure on the Holy Father. But Napoleon
steadily gained ground in Spain. Renewed resistance from Austria and
her allies held his attention until 13th May, 1809 when he re-captured
Vienna. Once again his mind turned to the Pope. On 17th May, 1809
Napoleon decreed the Papal States annexed to his empire. Pius VII
excommunicated Napoleon by a Bull posted throughout the City..Napoleon’s
administration went to considerable lengths to stop news of the
excommunication reaching the rest of his empire and the world
–ultimately failing. On 6th July, 1809 Miollis ordered General Radet to
arrest the Pope and Cardinal Pacca and at 4.00 a.m.it was done. They
took them through the heat and dust of that summer’s day “without linen
or spectacles “the Pope to travel the length of Italy to far northern
Savona and Cardinal Pacca to Fenestrella. The “Moniteur “and the
empire’s newspapers were ordered to make no mention of the
excommunication or of the arrest of the Pope and the Cardinal Secretary
of State. When they checked with each other, they were amused to find
that despite their high office, they had only the equivalent of about $3
between them.
His
enemies were later to sneer at finding Pius in his imprisonment,
mending his cassock – the only one he was allowed. Some seem to have
implied that to come to this pass he was perhaps not as clever as he
might have been. But Cardinal Pacca later wrote : “Having therefore,
attentively studied his character, and well knowing his disposition, I
can affirm that Pius VII was by no means deficient in talent, nor of a
weak, pusillanimous nature. On the contrary, he was a man of ready wit,
lively, more than commonly versed in the sacred sciences, and especially
possessed of that description of good sound sense that in matters of
business intuitively perceives the difficulties to be overcome, and sees
everything in its proper light”.
BATTLE FOR THE CHURCH
ON
12th September, 1809 the most rigorous expulsion of the religious
orders from Napoleon’s domain was set in motion. As this and other
measures gained momentum there were soon 20 vacant sees in France. In
November, 1809 Napoleon appointed an “Ecclesiastical Council” under his
friend Cardinal Fesch consisting of 12 Bishops. Among other things, the
self proclaimed “image of God on Earth” wanted them to help him with the
appointment of Bishops and the matter of his excommunication.
The
Council responded that the Pope must be set at liberty and the
Cardinals returned to Rome. But they went on to say that they believed
the Pope had withheld the appointments for the wrong reasons, and, that a
national Council of Bishops should appeal the Excommunication either to
a General Council of the Church or to the Pope himself better informed.
They proposed certain means of appointment of Bishops which they
thought might suffice in the absence of Papal appointment. Napoleon was
not impressed.
In
February, 1810, he ordered all of the Papal Archives removed to Paris
by his army and compelled all Cardinals to reside in Paris which he
intended to make the centre of the Catholic Church. And, upon Austrian
suggestions, he decided to marry an Austrian Archduchess. But the
Austrians made the proposal conditional upon the annulment of Napoleon’s
marriage to Josephine. He lavished gifts and privilege upon the
Cardinals and pressured them to urge the Pope to yield to his wishes.
They refused.
Now
the “little corporal “decided to divorce Josephine and, upon Austrian
suggestions, he decided to marry an Austrian Archduchess. But the
Austrians made the proposal conditional upon the annulment of Napoleon’s
marriage to Josephine. He induced” the Authorities of the Archdiocese
of Paris to declare the marriage null “in view of the difficulty of
contacting the Pope”, then Napoleon’s prisoner. On April Fools’ Day 1810
he married Marie Louise. Thirteen of the Cardinals then in Paris
refused to attend. They were then told by the Government that they were
no longer Cardinals. Denied their robes, their homes, their incomes and
their property sequestrated, they were sent in pairs to country
villages. They became””known as “the black cardinals “.Nineteen of
thirty-two Bishops in the Roman states refused to swear allegiance to
Napoleon and were treated in the same way, whilst priests who refused
the oath were imprisoned in Corsica.
Napoleon
now made several indirect approaches to the 68 yrs old Pontiff to
negotiate. The pope, his prisoner, refused unless he was set at liberty
and able to freely contact his Cardinals.
When
Napoleon set about purporting to appoint Bishops to particular Sees
(Florence and Paris), the Pope managed- by secret channels - to get
Bulls preventing these individuals from taking office presented to the
Chapters of those Cathedrals. Stymied by his prisoner, Napoleon exploded
in rage. He arrested and imprisoned Cardinals and priests he suspected
of facilitating this action and accused a member of the Council of
Treason and had him violently ejected from the Chamber and exiled from
Paris. He renounced the Concordat with the Church (which he had long
since been trampling underfoot in any case) and made the Pope’s
imprisonment radically more severe. He demanded surrender of the
Fisherman’s Ring which Pius did after breaking it in two as is done when
a Pope dies. Pius VII would still not yield to Napoleon’s
megalomaniacal demands.
After
several more unsuccessful manoeuvres on 16 March, 1811
Napoleon announced that HE was summoning a “COUNCIL OF THE WEST” the
description was a euphemism for those areas his armies controlled
The
“Council “met on 17th June, 1811.Its President was Cardinal Fesch with
whom Napoleon was becoming disenchanted. Fesch required all members to
swear oaths of fidelity and obedience to the Pope. For this Napoleon
severely berated him. Napoleon had caused to be prepared a statement
endorsing all of his demands which he expected the “Council “to endorse.
The members amended it in such a manner as to make it a nonsense and
were only just dissuaded but Fesch from adding a demand that Pius VII be
set at liberty. It was a hostile Napoleon who cancelled an audience he
had arranged for the Members on 30th June.
He
now set up a Committee to advise how he could undermine the Pope’s
authority. This group advised that nothing must be done without the
Pope. Furious, Napoleon was at first inclined to dismiss them. Then he
recalled a conditional basis for further negotiation that the Pope had
signed weeks before, when he had been isolated and without food and
drink for nine days, and had been cajoled by two Bishops and his
physician, urging him to acquiesce in the matters of interest to
Napoleon. The document offered for discussion the setting of a six month
limit for making Episcopal appointments before local decision would be
authorized. The document agreed to nothing, but merely proposed a basis
for negotiation. Napoleon had disregarded it at the time. Now he seized
upon it and deliberately lied about its content, announcing it as an
accomplished agreement. His “Council” then agreed, but smelling a rat,
upon reflection, withdrew that decision and proposed that nothing should
be done until the “Council’s” representatives could visit the Pope.
Napoleon promptly imprisoned three members of the “Council” at
Vincennes. After 15 days of heavy pressure on the members as yet free,
Napoleon authorized the “Council “to meet again and, by a vote of 80 to
13, they finally gave him what he wanted, but requested the Pope’s
assent. Finally, weak in body and isolated, Pius VII signed a Brief
giving some ground, but holding firm on other important members.
Napoleon rejected this and Pius VII would yield nothing more. Napoleon
forced three of the seven Bishops he had sent to the Pope to resign
their Sees and deported them to different towns.
After
various other maneuvers failed, Napoleon sent an abusive letter to the
Pope advising him to abdicate. Napoleon’s agent Chabrol demanded the
surrender of the Papal Tiara. “Never!”was the prompt reply. Increasingly
Napoleon vented his spleen on the Church. He required seminarians to do
military service.
FALLING FAR AND FAST
Just
as Napoleon’s success at arms made him feel invincible and hubris
gripped him, cracks began to appear in the imperial façade. The Spanish
still had not been subdued, and their vigorous resistance was sapping
the energy of the French Army. In another theatre of interest, Napoleon
refused the Tsar freedom to move against Poland and Turkey. This caused
the Tsar to make overtures to England.
Napoleon
resolved to attack Russia. He decided to remove the Pope from coastal
Savona to Fontainebleau for fear of an allied naval venture to free Pius
VII. Napoleon wanted him to go about publicly at Fontainebleau and
officiate in the churches. Pius VII saw that this was intended to mask
the reality of his prisoner status. He would not comply, and kept to his
place of confinement – a prisoner he was, and a prisoner he would be
seen to be. The memory of painful incidents during his transfer from
Savona was to remain with him long after his arrival on 19th June, 1812.
On
22nd June, 1812 Napoleon declared war on Russia. The Russians’
”scorched earth “policy left his easy progress toward Moscow nothing but
ashes, as far as possible they avoided pitched battles. But it was not
always possible. At Borodino on 7th September, 1812, Napoleon defeated
the Russian forces, leaving Moscow open to conquest as the defeated
Russians retreated still further into the length of Mother Russia.
Moscow fell one week later on 14th September, 1812. But now the Master
of Europe had to consider what had been achieved. True he held Moscow,
but he could not stay –he could not get local supplies – everything had
been burned. He could not bring supplies, it was logistically
impossible. He could not go on for the same reasons. He could only
surrender or retreat. Probably the former option had never occurred to
him. So, retreat it was to be, back across the scorched wastes now
frozen and snow-covered, past the frozen remains of fallen comrades and
enemies, with no fresh food and extremely reduced and declining rations.
It was to prove a frozen Hell on Earth. The story of that horror is
legendary. The difference between this result and Napoleon’s original
plan to invade India from Moscow to attack the “mercantile greatness of
England” demonstrates the difference between hubris and reality. His
Armies were decimated.
Even
the self-proclaimed “image of God on earth” realized his changed
circumstances. He now wrote by hand an affectionate letter to his
prisoner the Pope, seeking a new Concordat containing many of his
delusional demands and, on 18th January, 1813 came to Fontainebleau.
There followed many stormy interviews with the Pope, devoid of the
affectionate character of his letter. On 25th January, 1813 a new
Concordat was signed – none of the delusional demands was included- the
only concession made by Pius VII was on the Episcopal appointments
within six months issue. On 9th February the imprisoned Cardinals were
released and went to visit the Pope at Fontainebleau. They found him
anxious and regretful at having signed the Concordat. Even though, in
its preamble, it had spoken of its text as a preliminary basis for a
definitive arrangement, once again Napoleon had announced it as final.
On 24th March, 1813 the Pope wrote to Napoleon disavowing the document.
Napoleon suppressed the letter and continued to act as if the document
were in effect. Three Dioceses rejected his appointees and the Belgian
clergy agitated against his actions. Napoleon responded with the
imprisonment of selected clergy and the deportation of some seminarians.
The
cracks widened. His brother Joseph was driven out of Spain. The allies
formed against Napoleon had 500,000 troops to his 280,000 as a result of
his appalling losses in Russia. He still won at Dresden, but was
defeated at Leipzig. Then victories at Hanau and Hochtim enabled his
troops to retreat within “the Hexagon” as France was sometimes called-
referring to its geographic shape. All of this occurred in less than
three months. The allies invaded France. On 10th March, 1814 Pius VII
was set free at Austrian outposts in Piacenza territory. On 24th May,
1814 he re-entered Rome to a tumultuous reception.
By
the 14th May, 1814 Napoleon was a prisoner in Elba. Only 10 months
later he escaped and recruited an army of 118,000to oppose the 800,000
allied soldiers now arrayed against him. On 17th June, 1814 he was
defeated at Waterloo and subsequently imprisoned on the island of St.
Helena.
On
20th April, 1821 he said to one of his aides “” I was born in the
Catholic religion. I wish to fullfil the duties it imposes, and receive
the succour it administers.”He spoke of Pius VII as “an old man full of
tolerance and light”. True to that assessment, it was his ex-prisoner
Pius VII who petitioned the British to allow Napoleon a Catholic
Chaplain and that was allowed.
Napoleon died on 5th March, 1821.
PIUS VII AFTER THE STORM
His
resistance of the power crazed dictator and the cruel treatment he
endured so nobly won for this saintly and scholarly Pontiff , and the
Papacy, remarkable respect throughout Europe in both Protestant and
Catholic lands.
But,
in the aftermath of this turmoil, Pius VII would not rest on those
“laurels”. He moved firmly and prudently to see that in the “new world
order” as it would be called to-day, the position of the Church was made
secure. He concluded Concordats with France, Bavaria and the Kingdom of
the Two Sicilies and even with Protestant Prussia and Orthodox Russia.
He restored the Jesuit Order as he had resolved to do during his
imprisonment – having no doubt seen enough of political powers
pressuring the Church. In the civil sphere of the Papal States he put in
hand the modernization of the administration, financial and judicial
systems. But there is little doubt that he could have done anything to
change what was to come in the decades ahead. He was also vigorous in
his promotion of the arts.
Pius
VII died on 20th August, 1823 in the 23rd year of his Pontificate –
second only to St Peter in that regard. He had lingered in illness for
six weeks after breaking his thigh bone in a very heavy fall. The news
of the destruction by fire – due to a workman’s carelessness – of the
great and ancient Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls , where he had
lived for a time when he was a monk, was kept from him. He was
universally mourned: saintly, scholarly, resolute and heroic in the face
of vicious bullying by the once triumphant military monster of Europe.
Here was a Pope whose love of Christ and His Church was truly exemplary and constant” in spite of dungeons, fire and sword”.
(First posted here on 15th December, 2009.)
