Pope Pius IX and Poland

In the time of Pope Pius IX, Poland had long been partitioned among three neighbouring powers and no longer existed as an independent country.

The major part of the difficulties that the Pope faced with regard to the Polish people concerned those who were ruled by the Tsar in the officially separated Congress Kingdom of Poland.

On the other hand, his protests against the government's actions in its Polish provinces were so strong that they led to an intervention by the Austrian Empire, another of the powers who had taken over part of Poland, with the aim of getting the Pope to be silent on the matter.

Russia felt strong on its territory, and Poles had national aspirations, for which they used Catholic churches to meet, talk and inspire emotions with patriotic songs.

[6] After the Polish uprising in the same year, Pope Pius IX on April 22, 1863, wrote to the Tsar, protesting the expropriation of Church properties, forced conversions and the jailing of the clergy.

The Pope abstained from public protests but issued an encyclical July 30, 1863, in which he praised the heroic fight of the Poles and enumerated destruction and persecution activities by the Russian authorities.