Leonardo Donato

Shortly after his election as Doge, Donato, at the urging of Paolo Sarpi, rejected Paul V's protest.

As a result, in April 1606, Paul V issued a papal interdict on Venice, thus excommunicating the entire Venetian population.

At Sarpi's urging, Donato ordered all Roman Catholic clergy to ignore the Pope's interdict and continue to perform the mass, on pain of immediate expulsion from the Venetian Republic.

The Venetian clergy all continued to perform mass, except for the Jesuits, who left the Republic (or were expelled depending on one's perspective) rather than violate the papal interdict.

Donato and Sarpi were also personally excommunicated by Paul V. The Kingdom of France acted as a mediator in the dispute between Venice and the papacy.