Napoleon and the Catholic Church

Pope Pius VII with Cardinal Caprara, papal legate to France. Study for The Coronation of Napoleon, by Jacques-Louis David

Napoleon and the Catholic Church remained on difficult terms throughout the former's rule. Although Napoleon moderated the radical secularism of the French Revolution, he opposed the church as a political power at various turns and had two successive popes held prisoner, resulting in his excommunication by Pope Pius VII.


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