Pope Pius VI

Lore & Background

Giovanni Angelo Braschi was born in Cesena on Christmas Day 1717, the eldest of eight children. After studies at the Jesuit college of Cesena and the University of Ferrara, he became private secretary to Cardinal Tommaso Ruffo. His skill in a mission to Naples won the esteem of Pope Benedict XIV, who appointed him a secretary and later a canon of St Peter's Basilica. Ordained a priest in 1758, he served as Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura and treasurer of the camera apostolica before being made cardinal in 1773.

Elected pope in 1775, Pius VI opened a jubilee year and attempted reform, reprimanding the governor of Rome for corruption and reducing pensions. He faced challenges from Enlightenment thinkers, including Febronian and Gallican movements, and traveled to Vienna in 1782 to address reforms by Emperor Joseph II, though the mission failed. He condemned the Synod of Pistoia with the bull Auctorem fidei in 1794.

During the French Revolution, Pius VI condemned the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. French troops under Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the Papal army and occupied the Papal States in 1796. In 1798, after refusing to renounce his temporal power, he was taken prisoner and transported to France, dying eighteen months later in Valence.

Reader's Guide

Pope Pius VI's significance lies in his long pontificate during a period of profound upheaval for the Catholic Church. He was the last pope to exercise full temporal authority over the Papal States before the French Revolution shattered the old order. His condemnation of revolutionary reforms and his refusal to surrender temporal power led directly to his capture and death, making him a symbol of papal resistance to secularizing forces. His reign saw the expansion of the Pio-Clementine Museum, drainage of marshes, and restoration of the Via Appia. He also established the first American diocese, Baltimore, in 1789. Despite his efforts, his inability to satisfy either pro- or anti-Jesuit factions and his failed diplomatic mission to Vienna highlighted the limits of papal authority in an age of Enlightenment and revolution. His death in French captivity marked a low point for the papacy, which would not regain its temporal power until the Lateran Treaty of 1929.

Did You Know?

• Pius VI was born on Christmas Day 1717 and baptized two days later with the name Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio.
• He was the longest-serving pope of the Papal States, with a reign of more than twenty-four years.
• He was taken prisoner by French troops in 1798 after refusing to renounce his temporal power and died in Valence, France.
• He elevated 73 cardinals in 23 consistories but canonized no saints during his pontificate.