Pius VI, the martyr pope of the French Revolution, died on August 19, 1799, in Valence, in the Drôme region of France, at the age of 82. He left this world exhausted and humiliated by his captivity and deportation imposed by French troops since his arrest in Rome in February 1798. The pontiff was buried in a civil ceremony at the cemetery in Valence.
“The last pope is dead,” read the headlines in French newspapers. Many believed that the death of “Jean-Ange Braschy Pius VI, Roman pontiff” — as he was named by the registrar who recorded his death in a document still preserved today by the Valence town hall — had brought the history of the papacy to a definitive end.
But a few months later, to everyone's surprise, the cardinals managed to convene a conclave and, in March 1800, elected a new pope who took the name Pius VII. The papacy rose from the ashes.
In another sign of the changing century, a young French general who had emerged from the turmoil of the Revolution, a certain Napoleon Bonaparte, eventually rose to power. He reached out to the Catholic Church, which he recognized as a structuring and essential force for the reconstruction of France.
It was in this context that, in December 1801, the repatriation of Pius VI's body to Rome was organized. Pius VII would participate in his solemn funeral at St. Peter's Basilica on February 19, 1802.
A providential storm
A week earlier, a surprising episode took place when a storm forced the ship carrying the body of the late pope to dock at the port of Monaco. “The inhabitants of the Rock welcomed him with great fervor,” reports the National Committee of Monegasque Traditions. It specifies that the body of Pius VI was laid to rest in the parish church of Saint Nicholas, “where it was displayed for the devotion of the faithful while awaiting the continuation of its journey.”
This “significant event demonstrating the Monegasques' attachment to the Throne of St. Peter” led to the installation of a commemorative plaque in Latin in the church.
The place of worship was destroyed in 1874 when Prince Charles III decided to build a cathedral on the site, but the plaque was preserved and remains on display in the cathedral's ambulatory. It reads: “The Sovereign Pontiff Pius VI having died in Valence in Dauphiné, the ship carrying his mortal remains to Italy was driven into Port Hercules by sudden violent winds. The parish of Monaco erected this funerary plaque as a sign of piety on February 12, 1802.”
A connection with the patron saint
This accidental event echoes the popular devotion surrounding St. Devota, patron saint of the Principality and the princely family. According to tradition, the body of this young Christian girl, martyred in Corsica in the 3rd century, was pushed by a storm and guided by a dove, coming to rest on a beach at the end of the port of Monaco. This story is the origin of the strong ties that unite Monaco and Corsica, the place that was the site of Prince Rainier III's last trip before his death.
But apart from this “stopover” by Pius VI, the Principality has been waiting for a pope to visit for... 488 years. Pope Leo XIV will be the first living pope to visit Monaco since Paul III, who stayed there in 1538 in the context of the “Peace of Nice.” That pontiff managed to bring together Charles V and Francis I to urge them to agree to a 10-year truce, which ultimately led to their reconciliation. Wanting to avoid placing himself under the authority of either of the two sovereigns, Paul III chose to sleep in the Principality, and thus on neutral ground.
