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Pope Pius VII

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Religious Figure

The Resume

    (August 14, 1742-August 20, 1823)
    Born in Cesena, Italy
    Birth name was Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti
    Bishop of Tivoli (1782-85) and Imola (1785-1816)
    251st Pope of the Roman Catholic Church (1800-23)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was elected Pope in a compromise, after the Austrian Hapsburgs vetoed two candidates and their own candidate failed to get enough votes.
    He had to be crowned with a papier-maché tiara, because the original one had been seized by the French when they arrested Pope Pius VI.
    He consecrated Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor in hopes of improving relations with France (1804).
    Instead, within five years, he had excommunicated Napoleon and Napoleon had imprisoned him and annexed the Papal States.
    He restored the Inquisition and the Index of Prohibited Books.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He surprised conservatives when he said in a Christmas sermon, 'Christian virtue makes men good democrats.... Do not believe that the Catholic religion is against democracy.' (1797)
    His dignified suffering in prison inspired sympathy for him and the Church.
    When the French discovered he had been maintaining a secret correspondence, they took away all his books, pens and paper.
    His secretary of state negotiated the restoration of the Papal States at the post-Napoleonic Congress of Vienna (1815).
    Holding no grudges, he provided refuge at Rome for Napoleon's exiled mother and his brothers Lucien and Louis.
    When Napoleon requested the ministrations of a Catholic priest, he sent a chaplain to St. Helena.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 118 Votes: 49.15% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 11 Votes: 18.18% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 131 Votes: 51.91% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 107 Votes: 44.86% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 19 Votes: 47.37% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 9 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 31 Votes: 83.87% Annoying