The cruel and sanguinary persecution of Catholics in the Russian Empire
was a cause of intense sorrow to Pius IX. He could do nothing towards
alleviating the sufferings of those unfortunate people. The Tsar,
Alexander II., shows in his treatment of his Ruthenian subjects of the
united Greek Church, that he is wholly unworthy of the reputation for
enlightenment and benevolence with which he has been credited. The
Empress, indeed, is blamed, together with her fanatical favorite, Melle.
Bludow, the Minister of Public Instruction, Tolstoy, and Gromeka, Governor
of Siedlce, for having urged him to use the power of the empire in forcing
conversions to Russo-Greek _orthodoxy_. That the heads of a semi-barbarous
nation should so advise is not surprising. The Tsar, who is an absolute
monarch, cannot be excused. There is every reason, besides, for holding
him personally responsible. When he was at Warsaw, a peasant woman,
bearing a petition, succeeded in obtaining admission to his presence. As
soon as he learned that the petition begged toleration for the united
Greek Church, he replied by inserting in all the newspapers a confirmation
of the orders formerly given for the extinction of that church. Count
Alexandrowicz de Constantinovo was repeatedly warned by the Russian
authorities that he had no right to attend the Latin churches, which,
being less persecuted, were a refuge for the united Greeks, when, indeed,
as was rarely the case, they were allowed to enjoy it. The Count, hoping
to be more liberally dealt with by the enlightened Tsar, who was said to
surpass in all that was great and noble, his tolerant predecessor,
Alexander I., proceeded to St. Petersburgh. The Tsar made a reply to his
representation, which, in the case of an ordinary mortal, would be taken
for a proof of stupidity, or of impenetrable ignorance. “The Orthodox
religion is pleasing to me. Why should it not please you also?” It
remained only for the Count to sell his properties and abandon his
country. More humble members of the obnoxious church could not so easily
escape. The savage treatment to which they were subjected can only be
briefly alluded to here. A persecution which has lasted more than a
hundred years, and is not yet at an end, is more a subject for the general
history of the church than for the life of Pius IX. A few facts,
therefore, must suffice.
In the important diocese of Chelm, particularly, the most ingenious
devices were had recourse to, in order to delude the Catholic people, and
induce them to comply with the requirements of the Russo-Greek Church. All
these failing, force was had recourse to, and it was used, assuredly,
without stint or measure. Seizure of property, imprisonment, the lash and
exile to Siberia, proved equally unavailing, as persecution, in every
form, must always be. Greater excesses were then had recourse to.
They who dared to perform a pilgrimage, take part in a religious
procession, or enter a Catholic Church, were shot down like the wild game
of the forests, by the fanatical myrmidons of the Tsar. In January, 1874,
the people of Rudno were forced to abandon their dwellings and take refuge
in the woods. At Chmalowski, several united Greeks, of whom three were
women, were flogged to death by Cossack troops. At Pratulin, in the
district of Janow, when a number of people assembled in a cemetery, were
guarding the door of the church against apostate priests, a German
colonel, who commanded three companies of Cossacks, ordered his troops to
fire. Nine of the people fell dead on the spot. A great many more were
mortally wounded. Of these four died within the day. “Thus does the Tsar
punish rebels,” said the savage colonel to the mayors of the neighboring
villages, whom he had forced to witness the execution. At Drylow, five men
were slain on the same day, and in the same cruel way as at Pratulin. So
recently as August, 1870, a body of peasants, returning from a pilgrimage,
were attacked by Russian soldiers. They defended themselves bravely, as
best they could, with no better weapons than their walking canes. Six of
the troops fell, and thirty, one of whom was an officer, were wounded.
Reinforcements coming to the aid of the military, the peasants were
defeated, and a great number of them killed and wounded. Among the latter
were many women, and seven children. Two hundred arrests were made, the
next and following days. The prisoners were at first immured in the
Citadel of Warsaw. It is not probable that they will ever be allowed to
visit their kindred or their native villages.
Pius IX., being partially informed of such cruelties, which it was utterly
beyond his power to prevent, wrote to the United Greek Archbishop of
Lemberg, Sembratovicz, conjuring him to send to the sorely persecuted
people all the help in his power, both spiritual and material. He
declared, at the same time, by the Bull, “_omnem sollicitudinem_” dated
13th May, 1874, that the Liturgies proper to the Eastern Churches, and
particularly that of the United Greeks, which was settled by the Council
of Tamose, in 1720, were always held in high esteem by the Holy See, and
ought to be carefully preserved. Hearing that a Bull which concerned them
had arrived from Rome, the Ruthenian peasants sent secretly to Lemberg, in
order to procure it. Their envoys entering Galicia without passports,
incurred the risk of being sent to Siberia. When the Bull was once
obtained, the people assembled in groups, in remote places, and any one
who could read, read it to the rest of the company. It was held in honor
as a relic. When the Russians discovered that the Bull was known to the
people, they did their best to cause it to be misunderstood, both among
the clergy and the laity. They insisted, even, that the Pope had discarded
the Greek rite; that henceforth, they who adhered to Rome, could not
celebrate either the Mass of St. John Chrysostom or that of St. Basil, and
that the marriage of secular priests, together with the Sclavonic
language, would cease to be tolerated.
It has been attempted to conceal from the civilized world the more
atrocious circumstances of the Russian persecution. But the darkest deeds
of the darkest despotism cannot be always done in the dark. The press of
continental Europe has informed the public mind. If anything were wanting
to satisfy English readers, generally, it would be found in the despatch
of Mr. Marshall Jewell, Minister of the United States, at St. Petersburgh,
to Mr. Secretary Fish. This document is dated at the United States
Legation at St. Petersburgh, 23rd February, 1874. The minister begins by
stating that he took great pains to be correctly informed, regarding the
state of matters, before writing his report. This, he adds, was not done
without difficulty, as the affair was kept very quiet at St. Petersburgh.
Certain repressive measures for the conversion of the Ruthenian Catholics
having proved inadequate, “new and more stringent orders were given a few
weeks later. In consequence of these orders, several priests (thirty-four,
I have been told) who persisted in performing the former services, were
arrested. In some localities the peasants refused to go to the churches
when the Orthodox priests officiated, until they were forced to go by the
troops. In other localities they assembled in crowds, shut the churches,
and prevented the priests from performing the offices. In one case, it is
said, a priest was stoned to death. Conflicts arose between the peasants
and the armed force. On such occasions many persons were maltreated, and
in the case of the village of Drelow—28th February—thirty peasants were
slain, and many more wounded. It is said, even, that several soldiers were
killed. It is reported that the prisons at Lublin and Kielce are crammed
with prisoners. The peasants have also been flogged, men receiving fifty,
women twenty-five, and children ten lashes each. Some women, more
determined and outspoken than the rest, were punished with a hundred
lashes. Like troubles, it is said, have occurred at Pratulin and other
localities, with loss of life.... Last summer, the peasants of divers
villages, in the Government of Lublin, were constantly obliged to submit
to examination, and to appear before the courts. It was, in consequence,
impossible for them to cultivate their fields; and, hence, they have been
reduced almost to a state of famine. (Signed.) MARSHALL JEWELL.”