What did the Vatican know about Lithuania at the beginning of the 20th century?

Vatikano institucijose XIX a. pabaigoje-XX a. pradžioje mažai buvo žinoma apie Lietuvą ir lietuvius. Kodėl taip atsitiko? Pirmiausia lėmė objektyvi situacija, kad nuo Lietuvos krikšto iki XX a. trečiojo dešimtmečio pradžios nebuvo tiesioginių santykių (politine ir bažnytine prasme) tarp Šventojo Sosto ir Lietuvos arba Lietuva išvis nebuvo subjektas tuose santykiuose. Antras dalykas, kad lietuviai tuo metu turėjo ribotas galimybes kurti savo įvaizdį Vatikane. Trečias dalykas, kad Vatikano institucijose lenkai, turėdami stiprias pozicijas, nesuprato ar tiesiog jiems buvo sunku suprasti naujai besiklostančią situaciją, t.y. jie nepripažino, kad lietuviai turi teisę veikti savarankiškai ir atstovauti savo tautos interesams.Briefly, Vatican institutions at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries knew little about Lithuania and the Lithuanians. Why did this happen? First, it was influenced by the objective situation, because from the christening of Lithuania until the beginning of the 1920s, there were no direct relations (in both the political and ecclesiastical sense) between the Holy See and Lithuania or simply Lithuania was not a subject of those relations. Second, at that time the Lithuanians had limited possibilities to create their image in the Vatican. Third, the Poles although having strong positions in the Vatican did not understand or had a hard time understanding the newly developing situation, i.e. they did not recognize the fact that Lithuanians had the right to act independently and to represent the interests of their nation