Fernando Furquim de Almeida

Previous articles in this series have alluded to Napoleon’s desire to conceal news of his excommunication by Pope Pius VII. This article reveals many otherwise unknown details of the heroic actions of the Marian Sodalities in spreading the news in defiance of Napoleon’s orders. All documents related to the struggle between the … Read more

Napoleon’s ambitions were boundless. However, he knew that he needed to base his strategies on political reality. Before he assumed the title of Emperor in 1804, he was aware that French public opinion was eager to see Napoleon establish relations between France and the Holy See, which the radicalism of the French … Read more

The first posters announcing the Emperor Napoleon’s excommunication appeared in Paris in the early summer of 1809. Soon thereafter, the distribution of documents on the relations between France and the Holy See began. Immediately, the French police began their investigations which it hoped would quickly lead to the arrest of those responsible. … Read more

As seen in a previous article, the French ultramontanes sent Father Pierre Perreau to Rome to learn about the actual state of relations between the Holy See and France shortly before Pius VII’s arrest. Father Perreau met Cardinal Pacca and his secretary, Monsignor Pedicini. Most likely, they gave him documents laying out … Read more

Napoleon arrested Pope Pius VII on July 6, 1808. This extraordinary event triggered the alliance formed by the Marian Sodalities of Paris and Lyon, the Amicizie, and other lesser-known associations. Immediately, the alliance started using its contact networks, especially in France and Italy. These associations successfully made public essential documents concerning relations … Read more

On July 6, 1808, by Napoleon’s orders, French soldiers arrested Pius VII. They took the Pontiff to Savona, a Ligurian city near Genoa. The Papal Secretary of State Cardinal Bartholomeo Pacca, detained on the same occasion, was imprisoned in the Fenestrelle Fortress, near Turin, roughly eighty-five miles from Savona. Napoleon’s motive was … Read more

In 1804, First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor of the French. A few days before promulgating the laws establishing the Empire, Napoleon conferred with Giovanni Battista Cardinal Caprara, the Papal Legate. Napoleon asked the legate to sound out the Holy Father about the possibility of consecrating him as Emperor in Notre Dame … Read more

The founder of Lyon’s “Secret,” as its Marian sodality was known, was also its historian, Benoît Coste. He belonged to a wealthy and well-known Catholic family in that city. Born on December 11, 1781, he was still a boy when Lyon, having risen against the French Revolution that had begun in Paris, … Read more

Due to the vicissitudes of history, Catholics often formed societies whose existence they kept secret so that they might have some freedom of action. Those associations were always known to the competent ecclesiastical authorities. Civil officials were also informed of their activities when circumstances permitted. For example, during the seventeenth century, France’s … Read more