delegation of Mariavites to the Holy See in 1903, but were delayed by a Conclave. Eventually, they were able to meet with Pope Pius X in 1904. Kowalski and his fellow Mariavites were severely disappointed when, in August 1904, the Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition (CRUI) concluded that Kozłowska's visions were mere hallucinations. In April 1906, Pius X issued an encyclical, Tribus circiter, which criticised Kozłowska and her followers. It also harshly criticised her followers for treating her as a living saint and on a par with the Blessed Virgin. In December 1906, the excommunicated Kozłowska and Kowalski by name as well as their adherents and supporters. This marked the first instance in history where an individual woman was excommunicated by name as an heretic in contrast, to being excommunicated by virtue of her membership of a group deemed to be heretical. Independence In November 1906, only a month prior to the excommunication from the Catholic Church, the Russian government granted the movement official status in the part of Poland under its control. Cynical motives may have played a part: a split in the Polish Roman Catholic Church, the tsarist officials realized, could help foster a split in manifest Polish nationalism as well. Having already been in touch with the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches, the Mariavites were invited to attend their 1909 Congress in Utrecht, at which Kowalski was elevated to the rank of bishop, granting him the power of the apostolic succession. In 1912, the Mariavite church gained full recognition as a legal denomination in the Russian partition of Poland. They had already begun work on their own cathedral in Płock, the Temple of Mercy and Charity. They had as many as 50,000 to 60,000 adherents distributed over sixteen parishes and increased further during World War I. At its probable peak in 1917, the church may have had up to 160,000 adherents. In 1918, Kozłowska revealed the contents of her final vision. The following year, two years prior to her death, the Mariavites adopted the name, Old Catholic Mariavite Church. Legacy and myth Following the end of World War I the Second Polish Republic was established. A rise in hostility toward them by the new government caused a decline in Mariavite fortunes and membership declined, with many returning to Catholicism. This trend accelerated in 1921 after Kozłowska died and Kowalski succeeded her as