Restrictions on knowledge about Polish saints imposed by Tsarist censorship abroad in the years 1865–1904

Abstract

The study utilizes a comprehensive list of Polish-language religious publications imported into the Russian partition between 1865 and 1904 (the vast majority of which were obtained directly) and all the records of the Warsaw Censorship Committee preserved in the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw, which contain justifications for censorship decisions from that period. The main reasons for the Russian censors’ hostile attitude toward Catholic saints stemmed mainly from long-standing conflicts between different branches of Christianity and from the authors’ association of the cult of saints with Polishness. The censors’ attitude toward individual figures varied. First and foremost, any mention of St. Jozafat Kuncewicz and Blessed Andrzej Bobola, considered the main enemies of Orthodoxy and defenders of the union, was ruthlessly removed. The second group of figures consisted of saints and blessed individuals, in the case of whom only laudatory opinions about their significance for Poland and descriptions of some of their activities were removed, e.g., in the case of St. Jacek Odrowąż – missionary work, and St. Stanisław of Szczepanów – defense of the Church’s independence from secular authorities. The third group included saints who appeared in the texts mainly as intermediaries between the faithful and God, offering prayers and songs asking for the prosperity of the homeland and the Catholic faith (St. Stanisław Kostka, St. Kazimierz, St. Jan Kanty). The remaining figures, both Polish (St. Kunegunda, Blessed Bronisława, St. Jan of Dukla) and foreigners with some significant connection to Poland, were much less frequently the subject of interference.