Two Conservatives: Nicolas I and Pope Gregory XVI

The meeting of Emperor Nicholas I and Pope Gregory XVI in Rome in 1845 was the only meeting between the Russian monarch and the head of the Roman Catholic Church. By that time, the emperor had achieved numerous political successes, but the Papal state was in a deep crisis, which soon led to its liquidation. However, Catholicism was able to survive as one of the world religions – among the important reasons for that were active missionary work and the ability to renewal based on traditions. Gregory XVI failed to solve the problem of increasing the efficiency of papal public administration. But, being a conservative, he was able to establish a framework that did not prevent the influx of new active people into the church, which was associated with the revival of Catholicism in the West – it was no longer identified only with a political reaction. Nicholas I failed to solve this problem in the Russian Empire.