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How did Pope Pius VI respond to Joseph II’s church reforms?

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Portrait painting of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, wearing a black and red military coat with medals and a sash, with St. Peter's Basilica visible in the background. — Joseph II Joseph II, Holy Roman emperor, detail of a painting by Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, 1769; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

Pope Pius VI responded to the ecclesiastical reforms of Joseph II—which included the dissolution of monasteries, the secularization of seminaries, and the restriction of papal authority—by attempting to intervene directly. In 1782, the Pope traveled to Vienna to meet with the Emperor in person, hoping to secure concessions regarding these policies.12

However, the visit proved unsuccessful, as it failed to change any of the Emperor’s reforms. Joseph II’s subsequent journey to Rome also failed to resolve the tensions between the two leaders. These reforms, which became known as Josephinism, effectively subordinated the Roman Catholic Church in the Habsburg dominions to the state, leaving the church wealthy and influential but under firm government control.123