Lublin

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DIOCESE OF LUBLIN (LUBLINENSIS).

The city of Lublin is in RussianPoland, capital of the Government of Lublin, lies on the Bistrzyca, a tributary of the Vistula, and in 1897 had a population of 50,152, of whom 30,914 wereCatholics. It is the seat of aCatholicbishop, a governor, and an army corps. Conspicuous among the elevenCatholicchurches of the town are thecathedral, dedicated toSt. John the Baptist andSt. John the Evangelist, which was built by Bernhard Maciejowski (afterwardscardinal) between 1582 and 1600, remained till 1722 in the possession of theJesuits, and since 1832 has been thecathedral; also thechurch of St. Stanislaus, erected in 1342 by King Casimir for theDominicans; the church of the Assumption of Mary "de triumphis", built during 1412 and 1426 by King Wladislaw Jagello, in memory of the victory gained over theTeutonic Order; theparish church of the Conversion ofSt. Paul, erected in 1461, and till 1864 the church of theFranciscans, etc.

Lublin was founded in the eleventh century, and soon began to flourish. In the events arising out of the relations between Poles and Lithuanians, the town on various occasions played an important role. From the diets which assembled there, the so-called union of diets of 1569 came to be of decisive importance to the fortunes of both kingdoms. The alliance between Lithuanians and Poles was always more or less loose (seeLITHUANIA); only the hostility, common to both of them against theTeutonic Order, obviated a separation more than once. Following the downfall of the order, a much more dangerous enemy arose in the East in the upward-struggling empire of the Muscovites under Ivan III. When he had got rid of the Tatars he set about building up a centralized state. And as he had designs on Polish territory, he sought to rouse up enemies against the Poles. His successor followed a like policy. It became obvious that there would have to be a fight withRussia over the supremacy in the East. That could only be done with any success if, in place of the looser alliance, a uniform incorporation of the states took place. King Sigismund (1548-1572) showed himself strenuously in favour of a closer union. Nevertheless when the united diets finally met at Lublin in 1569, the Lithuanians, although their Greek Orthodox nobles had in 1563 by royal decree become possessed of the samerights as theCatholic nobility ofPoland, stoutly opposed a closer union between Lithuania andPoland. Their representatives demanded absolute independence in all home questions, and the maintenance of their own constitution and administration. Only in the case ofwar were Lithuanians and Poles to meet in diet, while the monarch was not to be common to both, but to be separated from both countries, and to be freely elected. A passionate conflict ensued with the Polish nobility. These latter were so much the stronger that they had the king on their side, and could also reckon on the lower Lithuanian nobles, who were much oppressed by princes and senators, and were not possessed of the same independence as the higher nobility. The king cleared away the last legal obstacle by renouncing his hereditaryrights as Grand Duke of Lithuania, and thus placed both divisions in the same relation to hisperson. When, then, Sigismund Augustus by virtue of his royal authority commanded the Lithuanians to consent to the union, they left the diet, in order to prevent the union, and made every preparation to defend their independence by the sword. The Poles, however, broke the opposition by inducing the king to unite one by one to the Polish crown the Lithuanian territories, such as Podlachia, Volhynia and others, in which his authority remained unshaken. Only the use of the Russian language in the courts was guaranteed to them. The few who refused to submit to this arrangement were declared to have forfeited their lands and dignities, and thus Lithuania was robbed of its richest province. The Lithuanian magnates, who had also the smaller nobility opposed to them, had nothing to do but submit. They joined the diet at Lublin again, and on 27 June, 1569, announced their willingness to acknowledge the union. On 1 July the union wassolemnly proclaimed. Lithuania thus ceased to be a self-dependent state. It retained however at least some marks of independence: Lithuanian offices, its own seal, and the title of grand duchy.

Under King Stephen Báthori (1576-86) Lublin became the seat of five of the highest law courts, which the king, under the renunciation of his old right, established to pronounce judgment as courts of appeal for the several combined territories.King John Sobieski, the conqueror of theTurks atVienna (1680), summoned a synod at Lublin, to put an end to the controversies amongRoman Catholics and those of other confessions and to win over the small number of schismatics, who after the Union of Brest remained in Lithuania; but the synod had no success. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Lublin still remained one of the most important towns inPoland. At the Partition ofPoland the town went first toAustria; in 1809, after the victory ofNapoleon, to the Grand Duchy ofWarsaw, on the disruption of which by the Congress ofViennaRussia obtained it. During the period ofAustrian rulePius VII, on the petition of Emperor Francis II, established at Lublin a separatebishopric. Adalbert Skarszewski was appointed firstbishop in 1807. When, during the reorganization of theCatholicChurch inRussia,Pius VII, by theBull "Militantis Ecclesiæ", of 12 March, 1817, elevated the Bishopric ofWarsaw into anarchbishopric, Lublin with otherdioceses was placed under it as suffragan and at the same time abishopric was instituted for Podlachia, with the seat in Janow. In 1868 bothdioceses were in a way united, theBishop of Lublin being likewise permanentVicar Apostolic of Podlachia. Josephus Marcellinus Dziecielski (1828-39) succeeded the firstbishop, who was elevated in 1825 to the Archbishopric ofWarsaw, then, after a long vacancy, Vincentius a Paulo Pienkowski (1853-63), Valentinus Barenowski (1871-79), Casimirus Josephus Joannes Wnorowski (1883-85), and the presentbishop, Franciscus Jaczewski (since 1889). The brief history of thebishopric exhibits many vicissitudes, particularly since Tsar Nicholas I took up the plans of Catharine II, to bring over to theOrthodox Church those who were in communion withRome, and carried them through by the most violent methods. Thousands ofCatholics in communion with theChurch in the Diocese of Lublin were "converted" by force to Orthodoxy, and a great number of religious buildings were taken from them. The appointment of anauxiliary bishop for this large diocese has for a long time been consistently frustrated by the Russian Government, and the long-continued oppression in manyparishes hinders the care ofsouls and does great injury to theChurch. Since the issue of the edict allowingreligious toleration, in 1905, the conditions have somewhat improved, though the officials put all the obstacles they can in the way of a return toCatholicism by those who were formerly compelled to join theOrthodox Church. In spite of everything, many thousands have returned to theCatholicChurch since 1906.

Thediocese includes the greater part of the Governments of Lublin and Siedlec, and numbers 19 deaneries, 427parishes, 403secular priests (205 administrators, 28curates, 145 vicars, and 25 other priests), and 1,532,300Catholics. Thecathedral chapter has 4 prelacies and 8canonries; there is also a collegiate chapter with 3 prelacies and 4canonries at Zamosc. Thediocesanseminary forpriests at Lublin has 1 regent, 1 viceregent, 6 professors, and 108 students. The Sisters of Charity have 6 establishments with 29 sisters.

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