Gregory, who even after becoming pope lived according to the strict rule of his Order, was also opposed to the modern spirit in ecclesiastical matters. In the encyclical of 1843 he condemned false enlightenment, indifferentism and the demand for unbounded religious freedom even as the most pernicious errors. He also con demned the doctrines of Lamennais, Bautin and Hermes, as well as the unorthodox practice followed in Prussia in the case of marriages between Catholics and non-Catholics. The ecclesiastical dispute of Cologne ended in favour of the pope. In England the number of Apostolic vicariates was increased to eight, and a Catholic press (The Tablet), was founded in order to dispel the prejudice against Catholics. The Catholic Institute in London, various pious associations and the ten theological training colleges which existed in England in 1846 gave good prospects for the progress of Catholicism in England. The pope encouraged mis sionary work, forbade the slave trade, and settled a number of disputes on ecclesiastical affairs with various countries.
Gregory XVI. showed his interest in scholarship by instituting museums of Egyptian and Etruscan antiquities in the Vatican and a museum of sculpture in the Lateran. He also encouraged ex cavation and the preservation of Roman remains. Subscriptions were received from all parts of the world for the rebuilding of the church of S. Paolo fuori le mura, which had been burnt down, and a part of the new structure was ready for consecra tion by 5840. Scholars such as Cesare Cantu, the historian Angelo Mai and the linguist Giuseppe Mezzofanti enjoyed the favour of the pope.
The revolutionary spirit continued to make progress, and men who had been forced to flee from their own countries owing to their revolutionary activities met in Brussels, Paris and London, where they conspired to raise rebellions in their native lands. One of the chief of these agitators was Giuseppe Mazzini, who, with his free-thinking association La Giovane Italia, aimed at overthrowing all monarchical Governments in Italy and setting up a united Italian republic. Outside this powerful movement there were a number of Italian nationalists who were influenced by the Romantic movement and wanted the Italy of the future to be founded on religion and the papacy. Rosmini and Gioberti dreamed of a federation of States under the leadership of the pope, and Balbo of a national federation with Piedmont for its sword and Rome for its heart.
sincere desire to prepare the way for Italian unity by proposing a customs union between the Italian States. The high-minded pope was however ill rewarded for his liberalism when the Revo lutionary year of 1848 arrived. The proclamation of the amnesty had attracted Mazzinists, as well as bandits and other revolu tionary elements, to the Papal States, and these gradually under mined the foundations of society. Encouraged by the February Revolution in Paris, certain elements in the Italian States per emptorily demanded that constitutions should be granted. The Papal States, on March 14, 1848, received a constitution setting up a two-chamber system. Not long afterwards the once idolized pope was accused of being a traitor to his country because he refused to take part in the nationalist war of Piedmont against the Austrian rulers. In accordance with the duties of his office he put the universal significance of the papacy above national aspirations, and not only declared his neutrality, but stated that he would never place himself at the head of an Italian confedera tion. By this decision the Holy See placed itself outside the movement for Italian unity, and the formation of Italy took place in opposition to Rome and to the temporal power of the pope. Revolution was already threatening in Rome. The pope was obliged to flee to Gaeta, and Mazzini's Red Republic, which was proclaimed in Rome in 1849, indulged in disgraceful orgies of anti-religious fanaticism. The triumph was however a brief one. Order was restored by foreign Powers, and Pius returned in 1850.
After the stormy years of 1848 and 1849, the former author ities were restored to their position in Italy as in Germany and Austria, and a new reactionary movement everywhere set in. In view of this it is not surprising that Pius IX., after the experiences which he had gone through, also adopted an anti-constitutional attitude. In this he and his secretary of State Antonelli were partly actuated by their conviction that in the Papal States, where all questions of internal and external policy must neces sarily be regarded from the standpoint of the Church, the duties of a head of the State acting with a parliament might come into conflict with the duties of the pope as head of the Church, and the freedom and independence of the papacy might accordingly suffer. The 1848 constitution was not restored, but the pope granted provincial and municipal self-administration. Laymen were allowed a share in the administration, but the final decision in all departments remained in the hands of the higher clergy.