1797
The Franciscans found their Missions at: San Jose, San Juan Bautista, San Miguel, and San Fernando.

The French invade northern Italy; Bishop Barnaba Chiaramonti, the future Pope Pius VII, as Bishop of Imola, addressed to his flock the wise and practical instruction to refrain from useless persistence to the overwhelming and threatening forces of the enemy.

Napoleon forced Pope Pius VI to accept the harsh Treaty of Tolentino. The Directory, more cruel than Napoleon, took over the Vatican and made the Pontif a prisoner. He was then dragged into France and was greeted by the people with affectionate enthusiam.

1798
The Franciscans found their Mission at San Luis Rey.

1799
The Ursaline Nuns are established at Georgetown, Maryland.

Pope Pius VI publishes his last Papal Encyclical, Quoties Animo, this Encyclical granted rights to sequester goods to pay public debts.

Death of Pope Pius VI, on August 29, at Valence, France as a prisoner and an exile. His last words were "Lord forgive them."

Napoleon Bonaparte, at the age of 39, ousted the incompetent and corrupt Directores at Paris in a Coup d’etat and declared himself First Consul of the French Republic. He left his Catholic upbringing on the Island of Corsica, far behind him.

Birth of Pauline Marie Jaricot.

1799-1815
The Napoleonic Wars.

1800
Pius VII becomes Pope and celebrates the Holy Year Jubilee.

Luigi Barnaba Chiaramonte was born on August 14, 1740, became Pope at Venice in 1800 and died on August 20, 1823.

During the later part of the reign of Pope Pius VII, the prestige of the Papacy was enhanced by the presence in Rome of several European Rulers. The Emperor and Empress of Austria, accompanied by their daughter, made an official visit to the Pope in 1819. The King of Naples visited Rome in 1821 and was followed in 1822 by the King of Prussia. The blind Charles Emmanuel IV of Savoy, and King Charles IV of Spain and his Queen, permanently resided in the Eternal City. Far more glorious to Pope Pius VII personally is the fact that, after the downfall of his persecutor, Napoleon, he gladly offered a refuge in his Capital to the members of the Bonaparte family. Princess Letitia, the deposed Emperor's mother, lived there; likewise did his brothers Lucien and Louis, and his uncle, Cardinal Fesch. So forgiving was Pope Pius VII that upon hearing of the severe captivity in which the Imperial prisoner was held at St. Helena, he requested Cardinal Consalvi to plead for leniency with the Prince-Regent of England. When he was informed of Napoleon's desire for the ministrations of a Catholic priest, he sent him the Abbe Vignali as Chaplain.

Pope Pius VII reorganized the Congregation of the Propaganda, and condemned the Bible Societies, for among other things, their removal of the Dueterocanonical Books. In 1805 he received at Florence, the unconditional submission of Scipione Ricci, the former Bishop of Pistoia-Prato, who refused obedience to Pope Pius VI in his condemnation of the Synod of Pistoia.

Pope Pius VII publishes his Papal Encyclical, Quoties Animo. This Encyclical granted the right to sequester goods to pay public debts.

The Religious Sisters of the Sacred Heart were founded in France.

In the spring of this year Napoleon crossed over the Alps and defeated the Austrians in the Battle of Marengo.

St. Joan Antide-Thourer founds the Sisters of Charity under St. Vincent’s Protection.