Enlightenment and Catholicism in Europe: A Transnational History

Chapter 21: Hugo Kołłątaj (1750–1812)

21 R Hugo kołła ˛taj (17 5 0 –18 12 ) The Revolutionary Priest ANNA ŁySIAk-ŁA ˛tkoWSkA Hugo kołła ˛taj was born in 1750 in Dederkały Wielkie, Volhynia, into a semiprosperous noble family. He had a particularly close relationship with his mother, Marianna Mierzyńska. kołła ˛taj began his school education at the age of seven in a Jesuit school in Pińczów. Between 1761 and 1768, he lived in kraków, where he established close connections with the kraków Academy. While none of the sources confirm with complete clarity just whether he received a doctoral degree in philosophy at that time, it is known that he decided to become a priest. During subsequent years, he traveled and studied abroad, thanks to the financial support of his family. In 1771, he went to Vienna, where he learned about the regalist Austrian model of organizing the Roman Catholic Church (Josephinism), a model according to which the church was largely independent from direct papal interventions but was governed by the state. then, kołła ˛taj departed for Italy to study there. During his two-year sojourn in Rome 455 456 Anna Łysiak-Ła ˛tkowska (1772–1774), kołła ˛taj was able to study more closely the legal, political , and ecclesiastical identity of the papacy, the Roman curia, and the Italian clergy—observations that influenced his views about the Roman Catholic Church as a political institution. Another important factor influencing kołła ˛taj’s view of the Curia was the papacy’s response to Poland’s crises in the last decades of its existence between the Bar Confederation and the third partition (1768–1795). Pope Clement XIV (1769–1774) had protested the first partition of Poland, but his protestations were ignored. kołła ˛taj claimed these actions were not in the interests of Poland and showed the weakness of the church’s political position with respect to Polish affairs. In response to the weak and inconclusive papal response, kołła ˛taj suggested that the Roman Catholic Church in Poland be reorganized similarly to that of the Austrian Empire. Following his time in Rome, kołła ˛taj spent months in Naples, where he was introduced to Ferdinando Galiani (1728–1787). Galiani was a clergyman who, during his stay in Paris, had become acquainted with many encyclopedists and philosophers in person, later adapting their views for his own Catholic Enlightenment writings. From Galiani , kołła ˛taj learned about Enlightenment ideas, which presented nature, political systems, society, the human being, and various spheres of life differently from the traditional Christian paradigm. After returning to Poland in 1775, kołła ˛taj was ordained a priest. It must be stressed that for someone like kołła ˛taj—a person of semiprosperous noble lineage now increasingly impoverished—the priesthood was an opportunity to improve his social status. opinions have differed concerning kołła ˛taj’s attitude as a parish priest. the authors of his biographies have stressed that the young kołła ˛taj was not very zealous in his ministrations, not characterized by piety, prone to absenteeism from his parish, and too keen on financial gain in the form of benefices, stipends and other church possessions (Schulz 1963, 2:660–62), never missing a chance to acquire them. However, kołła ˛taj became a good organizer and parish administrator, a fact proven during his tenure as parish priest in krzyżanowice. Having free time was conducive to furthering his career, continuing intellectual development , and following passions and interests. Hugo kołła ˛taj (1750–1812) 457 In 1776, kołła ˛taj moved to Warsaw, where he joined the Society for Elementary Books, in part because of contacts he had made in Rome, including his association with the bishop of Płock, Michał Jerzy Poniatowski (1736–1794), the brother of none other than king Stanisław August Poniatowski (1732–1798). kołła ˛taj thus found himself appointed to design and execute a reform of the kraków Academy . He criticized the level of teaching, the education and qualifications of the staff, and the management of the academy. According to him, the source of these problems was “monastic” education, especially the kind carried out by the Jesuits. He blamed them for inhibiting scientific advancement and for the low level of education. Neither was his opinion about their other activities positive. kołła ˛taj criticized the Jesuits’ attitude during the Reformation and CounterReformation ; their influence...