Napoleon and Pius VII - 1801
Pope Pius VII made a deal with Napoleon.
Introduction
The French Revolution that began in 1789 brought much violence against the Catholic church and involved confiscation of huge amounts of its property. Since Catholicism was the principal religion of France, Napoleon, when he came to power, saw it as good strategy to engage Catholics on his side. He negotiated a concordat with Pope Pius VII. (A concordat is an agreement between the Vatican and a secular government regarding the regulation of church matters.) The terms of this agreement re-opened seminaries, restored some church property, and granted state funding to Catholic prelates. Napoleon got the right to nominate bishops and to redraw the boundaries of French sees as he saw fit. The preliminary Concordat was signed on this day 15 July, 1801, although the final much-amended agreement did not take effect until 1802. Among the terms of the 1801 draft were the following articles:
Quote
“Article 1—The Catholic, Apostolic and Roman religion will be freely exercised in France. Its worship will be public, and in conformity with such police regulations as the Government shall consider necessary to public peace.
Article 6—Before assuming their functions, the bishops will take directly at the hands of the First Consul, the oath of loyalty used before the change of government, expressed in the following terms:
I swear and promise before God, on the Holy Scriptures, to observe obedience and loyalty to the Government established by the Constitution of the French Republic. I also promise to have no dealings, to attend no council, to converse with no group, whether within or without, which would be contrary to the public peace; and if, in my diocese or elsewhere, I learn that something is being plotted to the detriment of the State, I will make it known to the Government.
Article 12—All metropolitan, cathedral, parish and other non-alienated churches needed for worship will be put at the disposition of the bishops.
Article 13—His Holiness, in the interest of peace and the happy re-establishment of the Catholic religion, declares that neither he nor his successors will disturb in any manner those who have acquired alienated ecclesiastical possessions, and that as a result the ownership of these possessions, the rights and the revenues that attach to them will remain incommutably in their possession or in that of their legal successors.
Article 14—The Government will assure a fitting maintenance for the bishops and the curates whose dioceses and parishes will be included in the new circumscription….”
http://www.concordatwatch.eu/kb-1496.834