Kyiv Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ.
Cathedral of St. George in Lviv.
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, UGCC (a number of sources use hyphenated spelling Greek Catholic; Ukrainian Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, UGCC; Orthodox believers traditionally also call Uniate) is a local Catholic Church of the Eastern Rite, with the status of the supreme archbishopric, operating in Ukraine and in most countries of the Ukrainian diaspora.
Its history dates back to the Kyiv Metropolis of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which was founded as a result of the baptism of Rus' at the end of the 10th century.
Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus' Isidore, who had a residence in Moscow before the Council of Florence, was one of the initiators Union of Florence in 1439, which persisted for some time in Constantinople and the Western Russian (Kievo-Lithuanian) Metropolis.
Union of Brest (1596)
In 1596, most of the bishops of the Kyiv Metropolis, led by Metropolitan Mikhail Rogoza (as part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople), at the Council in Brest, decided to recognize the supreme jurisdiction of the Pope. The terms of the “Unia” (literally translated from Polish as “union”) provided for, while the believers and clergy preserved the Byzantine rite, recognition of the authority of the Pope and Catholic dogmas.
During the period following the union, the Greek Catholic (Uniate) Church took root in the western regions of Ukraine, which were part of the Central European states (Austria-Hungary, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Poland), and became the traditional religion for the majority of residents of these regions, while in the east of Ukraine Moscow-style Orthodoxy was preserved.
During the time of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Latin clergy considered the Uniates to be temporarily annexed to the Catholic Church so that they would subsequently convert to the Latin rite and could become true Latin Catholics. Therefore, they were called Uniates (not Catholics) and were treated similarly by the Roman Curia, which entrusted the management of Uniate affairs to the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, that is, the department to which the affairs of heretics and the relations of the Roman Curia to the Gentiles were subordinated.
In 1700, an Orthodox bishop Joseph Shumlyansky announced the accession of the Lviv diocese to the Greek Catholic Church. In 1702, the Lutsk diocese, headed by Bishop Dmitry Zhabokritsky, joined the Greek Catholic Church, which completed the process of transition of the Orthodox dioceses of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to Greek Catholicism. The Ukrainian Orthodox clergy was forced to convert to Greek Catholicism, otherwise repressive measures would be applied to them. In the Ukrainian society of Right Bank Ukraine, many also reacted sharply negatively to this, this became another reason for the revival of the Cossack freemen in the form of the Haidamak movement and mass migration of the population to the left bank of the Dnieper, under the rule of the Russian Tsar, where there was no persecution of Orthodoxy.
Many senior dignitaries, including Peter I, also reacted quite harshly to this step. During the Northern War, on July 11, 1705, Peter personally hacked to death six Greek Catholic monks during vespers in the Polotsk Basilian monastery, and the next day he ordered the abbot and his assistant to be hanged. Peter also arrested Lutsk Bishop Dionysius Zhabokritsky and he died in prison.
In Ukraine, the social situation became worse and worse, small and large riots and Haidamak uprisings broke out, which were brutally suppressed by the Poles. A lot has been written about how this happened, including the classic of Ukrainian literature Taras Shevchenko. The most ambitious uprising occurred in 1768.
When Russian troops entered the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1768 to suppress the uprising, Catherine II ordered the arrest of all Greek Catholic priests who refused to convert to Orthodoxy, and the confiscation of all church property claimed by the Orthodox. In the Kiev region, 1,200 Greek Catholic churches were confiscated and dozens of priests were arrested. The priests were released after the intervention of the Warsaw nuncio.
Immediately after the start of the partitions of Poland on March 4, 1772, Metropolitan Volodkovich sent a letter to Pope Clement XIV about the oppression of the Uniates by the Polish authorities. After the occupation of Galicia by Austria on July 17, 1774, Lviv Bishop Lev Sheptytsky complained through his representative Ivan Gudz, who received an audience with Maria Theresa, that Latin priests and even canons in Galicia called the Uniates dogs and their religion was dog-like. All those professing the Greek Catholic rite are not allowed to join the ranks or workshops of artisans and industrialists.
In 1787, Catherine II decreed that only printing houses subordinate to the Synod could print spiritual books in the Russian Empire, and the activities of Greek Catholic printing houses ceased.
In 1794, Orthodox Bishop Victor (Sadkovsky) sent out appeals calling on Greek Catholics to convert “to the right faith,” which were read in cities and villages as state acts. If there were people who wanted to convert to Orthodoxy, the authorities wrote them down in the books, paid them a monetary allowance and sent a priest with a detachment of soldiers who confiscated the church from the Greek Catholics and handed it over to the Orthodox. It was ordered to abolish Greek Catholic parishes if less than 100 households were assigned to them, but if they wanted to convert to Orthodoxy, they were allowed to exist. The Greek Catholic dioceses, with the exception of Polotsk, were abolished, and the bishops were sent into retirement or abroad. The Kiev Greek Catholic (Uniate) metropolitanate was actually abolished - to the metropolitan Theodosius Rostotsky banned from managing his diocese and sent him to St. Petersburg.
Paul I banned violent methods of conversion to Orthodoxy. In 1800, he returned most of the exiled Greek Catholic priests from Siberia and returned part of the churches and Basilian monasteries to the Greek Catholics. Three Greek Catholic dioceses were allowed to exist: Polotsk, Lutsk and Brest. Those who converted to Orthodoxy began to return to Greek Catholicism.
Alexander I transferred the management of Greek Catholic parishes from the hands of the metropolitan and bishops to the auditors of the Greek Uniate College.
Pius VII founded in 1808 the Galician Metropolis of the UGCC with its center in Lvov, which became the successor to the liquidated Kyiv Uniate Metropolis.
To reduce the influence of the Catholic Church on public life in Poland after Polish uprising of 1863-1864, the tsarist government decided to convert the Ukrainians of the Kholm region belonging to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to Orthodoxy.
Sometimes these actions met with resistance. Residents of the village of Pratulin refused. On January 24, 1874, believers gathered near the parish church to prevent the transfer of the temple to the control of the Orthodox Church. After this, a detachment of soldiers opened fire on the people. 13 people died and were canonized by the Catholic Church as the Pratulin martyrs.
On May 11, 1875, the reunification of the Kholmsky Uniates with the Orthodox Church was proclaimed. Officials and clergy read out the imperial decree about this in the presence of soldiers entering the villages.
1888 Pope Leo XIII unveiled a plan for the unification of the Mukachevo and Pryashevo dioceses with Galician Metropolis. The Hungarian primate, Cardinal János Seymour, announced that the implementation of such a plan would be a great insult to the national feelings of the Hungarians. 1898 The “Regional Committee of Greek Catholic Magyars” was founded in Budapest, which set the task of translating services into Hungarian and erasing the names of St. . Paraskeva, St. Boris, St. Gleba, St. Vladimir, St. Theodosius and Anthony of Pechersk, because they have nothing to do with Transcarpathia. On September 2, 1937, the Vatican finally freed the Pryashevsky and Mukachevo dioceses from subordination to the Hungarian Archbishop of Esztergom, giving them the status "sui juris". The unification attempt ended in failure. Currently, the Mukachevo Greek Catholic Diocese is part of Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church.
In 1905, after the manifesto of Emperor Nicholas II, which affirmed the beginnings of religious tolerance, some former Greek Catholics converted to Catholicism; in the Kholm region, 200 thousand people converted to Catholicism. During the presence of Russian troops on the territory of Galicia during the First World War, the policy towards Greek Catholics on the part of the Russian Empire was developed both in Petrograd and directly in Galicia. At a meeting of the Petrograd branch of the Galician-Russian Society on September 14, 1914, a detailed resolution was adopted on the religious issue in Galicia. These proposals by V. A. Bobrinsky were initially approved by the Protopresbyter of the military and naval clergy G. Shavelsky, and then by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. For 9 months of control of the territory of Eastern Galicia by the Russian authorities, according to the office of the military governor-general with permission G. A. Bobrinsky 86 Orthodox priests were appointed to parishes. Of these, 35 were based on petitions from parishioners and 51 based on certificates from Archbishop Eulogius. These data differed from the data of the office of Archbishop Eulogius, according to which by April 4, 1915, there were 113 priests in Eastern Galicia. Often the transition or non-conversion of a particular village to Orthodoxy depended on which side - the Uniates or the Orthodox - was able to pay the district chief more ( See article Confessional policy of the Russian Empire during the First World War).
In the 20th century, during the period between the two world wars, the UGCC actively and rapidly developed in Western Ukraine, in particular thanks to the activities of Metropolitan of Galicia Andrey Sheptytsky.
In 1939, after arrival of Soviet troops and the establishment of a communist regime on the territory of Western Ukraine, the UGCC became the object of close attention of the NKVD. At that time, the NKVD did not openly interfere with its activities, provided that the UGCC would not conduct anti-Soviet agitation, however, already in 1939, some persons of the UGCC were included in the operational development of the NKVD and several operational cases were opened. Thus, in 1939, in the Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankivsk region) NKVD opened an operational case “Plague”, which involved about 20 Ukrainian Greek Catholic clergy and believers. In the Lvov region in 1939, an operational case “Walkers” was opened, within the framework of which more than 50 people were targeted by the NKVD, including the leadership of the UGCC - Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, bishops Ivan Buchko and Mykyta (Nikita) Budka, prelates L. Kunitsky and A. Kovalsky, Canon V. Laba and Archimandrite of the Studite Order Klementy Sheptytsky, Archbishop Joseph Slipy (Blind) and others. There were also a number of arrests of clergy, some of whom were sentenced to 6 years (J. Yarimovych, Nastasov, S. Khabursky, Kudinovich, N. Ivanchuk, Ivanchan).
At the beginning of 1939, in the Lviv diocese, a group of priests, led by Klymenty Sheptytsky, discussed the issue of abandoning the union and creating a “Ukrainian people’s church.” Members of the group were priests Kowalski, Kostelnik, Pritma and others. According to the plan, the head of the church was to become Metropolitan A. Sheptytsky, who was informed about the work of the group. The NKVD was also aware of the group’s work, and used it for its own purposes.
The initial plan for the operational development and liquidation of the UGCC was developed by the NKVD back in 1940-1941 and on January 11, 1941 approved by the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR Lavrenty Beria. The primary task was to separate the UGCC from the West and, first of all, from the Vatican by creating an autonomous or autocephalous Ukrainian church with its subsequent annexation to the Russian Orthodox Church. After the war, the NKVD abandoned the intermediate phase of creating the Ukrainian church and began the direct liquidation of the UGCC through its unification with the Russian Orthodox Church. In general, the plan was part of a general effort aimed at combating the UPA and OUN, and any manifestations of Ukrainian nationalism.
Future leader of the movement to join the Moscow Patriarchate, Archpriest Gabriel Kostelnik, according to archival documents, began collaborating with the NKVD in 1941, when, after a search and subsequent arrest of his son, carried out by the NKVD under the guise of the police, he was forced to make contact with the NKVD. Knowing about strained personal relations with Metropolitan A. Sheptytsky and I. Slipy, representatives of the NKVD discussed with Kostelnik the possibility of creating an autocephalous Ukrainian church independent of Rome. On instructions from the NKVD, G. Kostelnik wrote a number of articles and an abstract on this topic.
As part of the NKVD activities of 1940-1941, it was planned to provoke a split within the church (between supporters of the Eastern and Western rites), in every possible way to discredit the leaders of the church with the facts of their personal lives, to accuse them of violating canon laws and abuse of church property, to activate Orthodox churchmen in the fight for the annexation of the Uniates to the Russian Orthodox Church, in the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR to raise the issue of appointing commissioners for religious affairs at the regional executive committees. In a separate provision, within the framework of the NKVD’s activities in relation to the UGCC, the head of the 2nd department of the GUGB NKVD, State Security Commissioner of the 3rd rank, Fedotov, was instructed to organize, together with the People’s Commissariat of Finance of the USSR, a tax scheme for use against the clergy of the UGCC - taxation of the clergy in the Western regions of the Ukrainian SSR should be carried out “according to agreement with the local NKVD apparatus."
Initial plans for the liquidation of the UGCC, by creating a Ukrainian church with its subsequent annexation to the Russian Orthodox Church, were created by the NKVD in 1940-41, but the war prevented the implementation of the plans.
During World War II and after the restoration of the Soviet regime, the UGCC was persecuted by the state due to the fact that it supported Ukrainian nationalists, maintained contacts with the center of world Catholicism - the Vatican, and Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky approved the sending of chaplains to units 14th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division. Sheptytsky had no direct connection with the formation of the SS Galicia division in 1943, but he delegated chaplains to conduct pastoral work in it. In his polemic with the initiator of the creation of the division, the chairman of the UCC (recognized by the occupiers as the representative body of Ukrainians) V. Kubiyovych, urged him to consider the political expediency and moral responsibility of such a step.
Already in March 1945, the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church (headed by Karpov) developed a set of measures “to separate the parishes of the Greek Catholic (Uniate) Church in the USSR from the Vatican and their subsequent annexation to the Russian Orthodox Church,” which was approved by Joseph Stalin .
After the restoration of Soviet power in the West of Ukraine, the NKGB contributed to the creation among part of the Greek Catholic clergy of the so-called “initiative group”, which called for the abolition of the union between the Greek Catholic Church and Rome and for its merger with the Russian Orthodox Church, a decision about which was made at the Lvov Council 8 - March 10, 1946. 225 delegates-priests, members of the Initiative Group, and 22 delegates from the laity from all three Greek Catholic dioceses (Lviv, Sambir-Drohobych and Stanislav) were invited to the Council; presided over by Dr. Gabriel Kostelnik
The Soviet government and the NKVD considered the UGCC as the center of the nationalist movement in Western Ukraine, which was one of the main reasons for the USSR leadership making a political decision to liquidate it.
The UGCC actively supported the UPA and OUN movement in the struggle for the creation of an independent state of Ukraine, not only providing overnight accommodation and treatment to UPA members if necessary, but also providing significant financial support. According to the leadership of the NKVD, the liquidation of the UPA should have been carried out in parallel with the liquidation of the UGCC, activists of the movement for the independence of Ukraine, which included not only representatives of the OUN and UPA, but also other Ukrainian parties, such as UNDO, URSP, the clerical association of the UNO ("Ukrainian national renewal"), etc.
To give the Council canonical legitimacy, the NKGB recommended that the Central Initiative Group send invitations to the Council to the most prominent opposition figures, including the brother of the deceased Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky, the abbot of the Studite monks, Kliment Sheptytsky. A total of 13 such invitations were sent out, however, without informing the Central Initiative Group about this, the NKGB took measures to ensure that opponents of reunification received these invitations by the end of the council.
None of the UGCC bishops participated in this council. However, the Orthodox Bishop of Drohobych and Sambir Mikhail Melnik and the Orthodox Bishop of Stanislav and Kolomyia Anthony Pelvetsky took part in its work. The canonicity of the cathedral was recognized by all local Orthodox churches of the world - Alexandria, Antioch, Bulgarian, Polish, Romanian, etc. The majority of the UGCC episcopate was subsequently subjected to repression.
The UGCC does not recognize canonicity and refers to the action that took place only as the “Lvov pseudo-council of 1946.”
The creation of the Central Initiative Group, headed by Dr. G. Kostelnik, for the “reunification” of the Greek Catholic Church with the Russian Orthodox Church was inspired by the NKGB as part of the plan to liquidate the UGCC.
From a memo by P. Drozdetsky to the NKGB of the USSR on the liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church in the western regions of Ukraine dated 02/16/1946:
- […] After a thorough study of the situation, we developed a plan for the liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church, which we began to implement […]
- Carrying out this plan, in April 1945, in the regional newspapers of Lvov, Ternopil, Stanislav, Drohobych and the central newspaper “Pravda Ukrainy”, on our initiative, an extensive article “With a cross or a knife” was published against the Uniates, which played a significant role in the preparation to the liquidation of this church. The article revealed the anti-Soviet activities of the top of the Uniate Greek Catholic clergy and exposed it to the loyal part of the clergy and to the believers.
- Having thus prepared public opinion, on April 11, 1945 we carried out the arrests of Metropolitan Joseph BLIND, Bishops KHOMYSHIN, BUDKA, CHARNETSKY, LYATYSHEVSKY, as well as a number of priests of the Uniate Church who had most compromised themselves with anti-Soviet activities. By decapitating the Greek Catholic Church, we created the preconditions for organizing a movement aimed at eliminating the union and reuniting this church with the Russian Orthodox Church. For this purpose, on 5/30/45 we created the “Central Initiative Group for the Reunification of the Greek Catholic Church with the Russian Orthodox Church,” which included authoritative priests: Dr. KOSTELNIK - from the Lviv diocese, Dr. MELNIK, Vicar General - from the Drohobych diocese and PELVETSKY - subsequently held as chairman of the Stanislav diocese.
Financing, preparation for and actual holding of the cathedral in Lvov in 1946 was carried out in accordance with the plan for the liquidation of the UGCC, developed and approved by the NKGB of the USSR:
On the recommendation of the NKGB, the work of the initiative group, the preparation and holding of the UGCC council was financed by the People's Commissariat of Finance of the USSR, through the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR and the Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine - a total of about 500 thousand rubles were allocated, of which 75 thousand rubles were allocated for the operating expenses of the NKGB .
One of the documents adopted by the Council was an Appeal to the clergy and believers of the Greek Catholic Church, which emphasized that the union was created artificially and was forcibly imposed on the people by the Polish authorities and the papacy: “Brothers, come to your senses! Through the victims of millions of our brothers, you have been freed and are no longer silent slaves! Free yourself from Roman oppression of the spirit and from those remnants of Polonism that you still have! Do not waste your strength and the strength of the people to implement erroneous ideas! If the Orthodox Church is not truthful, then in this case not a single Christian Church can be truthful, since the Orthodox Church is the primary Church of the Christian East and West, from which all other Churches were formed. From this day forward, we belong to the Holy Orthodox Church, which is the Church of our fathers, the historical Church of the entire Ukrainian people and all the peoples closest to us by blood. And the Lord will bless our holy work.”
On April 5, 1946, a delegation of members of the Council led by Archpriest Kostelnik was received in Moscow by Patriarch Alexy of Moscow; Kostelnik was awarded the highest award for a priest from the white clergy - the rank of protopresbyter.
Reaction to the liquidation of the UGCC
According to UNKGB reports, the population perceived the “reunification” with the Russian Orthodox Church, in general, neutral or positive. Some part of the Ukrainian intelligentsia reacted negatively to the decision of the Lvov Council, who understood that the liquidation of the UGCC was a way to bring Western Ukraine closer to the situation in which the rest of the USSR had been for many years. Some representatives of the Ukrainian intelligentsia saw this as an attempt to Russify the Ukrainian church and an attack on Ukrainian culture. From UNKGB reports on the reaction of the Ukrainian intelligentsia to the publication of a notice from the USSR Prosecutor's Office about the accusation of I. Slipy and the upcoming liquidation of the UGCC .
After the Lviv Cathedral
After the Lviv Council, the catacomb period of the UGCC began, accompanied by persecution of the clergy and laity, their deportation to Siberia and the northern regions of the USSR.
Until 1990, bishops, priests and monks of the UGCC who remained in Western Ukraine continued to serve illegally. A significant part of the believers, remaining Greek Catholics, attended Orthodox churches of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In February 1990, after a meeting in the Vatican between USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II, the ban on the creation of Greek Catholic communities was lifted, their registration and holding services were allowed. Most of the churches in Western Ukraine, which were transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate during the abolition of the UGCC in 1946, were returned to the UGCC. There were violent seizures of churches of the Russian Orthodox Church by the UGCC.
On August 29, 2005, the residence of the first hierarch of the UGCC was moved from Lvov to Kyiv; on the same day, Pope Benedict XVI awarded the Primate of the UGCC a new title - “His Beatitude Supreme Archbishop of Kiev-Galicia” (previously, since December 23, 1963, the head of the UGCC was called His Beatitude Supreme Archbishop of Lvov; even earlier, starting in 1807, - His Eminence Metropolitan of Galicia; the original title of the head of the UGCC, starting from the time of the Union of Brest, was His Eminence Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia).
TODAY.
The UGCC is the largest local Catholic Church of the Eastern Rite. According to the Annuario Pontificio for 2012, the number of believers is 4 million 281 thousand people. The church has 3,321 priests and 43 bishops. The church owns 3,989 parishes.
In the modern Greek Catholic Church, services are held mostly in Ukrainian, which is recognized as the official liturgical language along with Church Slavonic.
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The UGCC (Ukrainian Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, UGCC; traditionally called Uniate by Orthodox believers) is the Catholic Church of the Eastern Rite, which has the status of the supreme archbishopric, operating in Ukraine and in most countries of the Ukrainian diaspora.
The UGCC dates its history from the time of the baptism of Rus' by Prince Vladimir in 988, when the Kiev Metropolis of the Byzantine rite was founded in canonical subordination to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. At that time, there was no split in the Church into Catholic and Orthodox, so the Metropolitan of Kiev was also in ecclesiastical communion with the Roman throne. Subsequently, after the schism of 1054, the Kiev Metropolis broke off communication with Rome. But, despite the formal break, the Kyiv hierarchs continued to maintain church relations with the Latins. Thus, envoys from Rus' took part in the councils of the Western Church in Lyon (1245) and Constance (1418). Kiev Metropolitan Isidore himself was one of the initiators of the Union of Florence in 1439. As a result of this, the Kiev Metropolis restored unity with the Roman Church and remained faithful to the Council of Florence until the Union of Brest, when in 1596 the Kiev Metropolis of the Patriarchate of Constantinople completely resubordinated itself to the Roman Patriarch and reunited with the Roman Catholic Church. The terms of the Union provided for the preservation of the Orthodox believers and clergy of their traditional rituals and the Church Slavonic language of worship, recognition of the authority of the Pope and Catholic dogmas.
Over the centuries following the union, the Greek Catholic (Uniate) Church took root in the western regions of Ukraine, which were part of the Catholic states (Austria-Hungary, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Poland), and became the traditional religion for the majority of residents of these regions, while in Orthodoxy has been preserved in eastern Ukraine. In the modern Greek Catholic Church, services are conducted mainly in Ukrainian, which is recognized as the official liturgical language along with Church Slavonic.
By the beginning of the 19th century, Catholicism of the Eastern rite was prohibited on the territory of the Russian Empire, and the Kiev Greek Catholic (Uniate) Metropolis was abolished. Instead, the Pope founded the Galician Metropolis of the UGCC in 1807, with its center in Lviv, which became the successor to the liquidated Kyiv Uniate Metropolis.
In the 20th century, during the period between the two world wars, the UGCC actively and rapidly developed, in particular thanks to the activities of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky of Galicia.
During the Second World War and after the final establishment of Soviet power, the UGCC was persecuted by the Soviet state due to the fact that it supported Ukrainian nationalists who fought against Soviet power for the independence of Ukraine, and maintained contacts with the center of world Catholicism - the Vatican, and Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky approved the sending of chaplains to the units of Ukrainian collaborators (SS division “Galicia”). Shepetytsky had no direct connection with the formation of the SS division “Galicia” in 1943, but he delegated chaplains to conduct pastoral work in it. In his polemic with the initiator of the creation of the division, the burgomaster of Lvov, V. Kubiyovich, he urged him to consider the political expediency and moral responsibility of such a step.
Liquidation of the UGCC (Lviv Council 1946)
Throughout the history of the UGCC, it included groups of clergy and laity who had a negative attitude towards the introduction of Latin rites and cults, and sought to return to Orthodoxy. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet state, represented by the NKVD, contributed to the creation among part of the Greek Catholic clergy of the so-called “initiative group”, which called for the abolition of the union between the Greek Catholic Church and Rome and for its merger with the Russian Orthodox Church. The decision on this was made at the Lvov Council in 1946, chaired by Father Gabriel Kostelnik, and with the active participation of the NKVD.
The Soviet government and the NKVD considered the UGCC as the center of the nationalist movement in Western Ukraine, which was one of the main, but not the only, reasons for its liquidation. The UGCC actively supported the UPA and OUN movement in the struggle for the creation of an independent state of Ukraine, not only providing overnight accommodation and treatment to UPA soldiers if necessary, but also providing significant financial support. According to the leadership of the NKVD, the liquidation of the UPA should have been carried out in parallel with the liquidation of the UGCC, activists of the movement for the independence of Ukraine, which included not only representatives of the OUN and UPA, but also other Ukrainian parties, such as UNDO, URSP, the clerical association UNO ("Ukrainian National updates"), etc.
Already in 1939, after the arrival of Soviet troops and the establishment of Soviet power in Western Ukraine, the UGCC became the object of close attention of the NKVD. At that time, the NKVD did not openly interfere with its activities, provided that the UGCC would not conduct anti-Soviet agitation, but already in 1939 the UGCC was included in the development of the NKVD, when several operational cases were opened. So in 1939, in the Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankivsk region) NKVD opened an operational case “Plague”, which involved about 20 Ukrainian Greek Catholic clergy and believers. In the Lvov region in 1939, an operational case “Walkers” was opened, within the framework of which more than 50 people were targeted by the NKVD, including the leadership of the UGCC - Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, bishops Ivan Buchko and Mykyta Budka, prelates L. Kunitsky and A. Kovalsky, Canon V. Laba and Archimandrite of the Studite Order Klementy Sheptytsky, Archbishop Joseph Slipoy and others. There were also a number of arrests of clergy, some of whom were sentenced to 6 years (Y. Yarimovych, Nastasov, S. Khabursky, Kudinovich, N. Ivanchuk, Ivanchan).
At the beginning of 1939, in the Lviv diocese, a group of priests, led by Klymenty Sheptytsky, discussed the issue of abandoning the union and creating a “Ukrainian people’s church.” Members of the group were priests Kowalski, Kostelnik, Pritma and others. According to the plan, the head of the church was to become Metropolitan A. Sheptytsky, who was informed about the work of the group. The NKVD was also aware of the group’s work, and used it for its own purposes.
Delegate to the 1946 council from the Lviv diocese, priest Savchinsky:
* “In a word, Katsap chauvinism, SHEPTITSKY would be the first to break with Rome and create an independent Ukrainian autocephalous church, but not with Moscow, but without it. Kiev is the center, not Moscow, but there was no opportunity, and now the Bolsheviks seized on this opportunity, but in his own favor. The Patriarch of All Russia, and Ukraine is a colony, both political and economic, and now, unfortunately, also religious - after the council. Here, in fact, the point is not in the Pope, but in politics.
The initial plan for the operational development and liquidation of the UGCC was developed by the NKVD back in 1940-41 and on January 11, 1941 approved by the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR L. Beria. The primary goal was to separate the UGCC from the West and, first of all, from the Vatican by creating an autonomous or autocephalous Ukrainian church with its subsequent annexation to the Russian Orthodox Church. After the war, the NKVD abandoned the intermediate phase of creating the Ukrainian church and began the direct liquidation of the UGCC through its unification with the Russian Orthodox Church. In general, the plan was part of a general effort aimed at combating the UPA and OUN, and any manifestations of Ukrainian separatism.
G. Kostelnik began collaborating with the NKVD in 1941, when, after a search and subsequent arrest of his son, carried out by the NKVD under the guise of the police, G. Kostelnik was forced to make contact with the NKVD. Knowing about strained personal relations with Metropolitan A. Sheptytsky and I. Slipy, representatives of the NKVD are discussing with Kostelnik the possibility of creating an autocephalous Ukrainian church independent of Rome. On instructions from the NKVD, G. Kostelnik writes a number of articles and an abstract on this topic.
As part of the NKVD activities of 1940-1941, it was planned to provoke a split within the church (between supporters of the Eastern and Western rites), in every possible way to discredit the leaders of the church with the facts of their personal lives, to accuse them of violating canon laws and abuse of church property, to activate Orthodox churchmen in the fight for the annexation of the Uniates to ROC, in the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian SSR, raise the issue of appointing commissioners for religious affairs at the regional executive committees. In a separate provision, within the framework of the NKVD’s activities in relation to the UGCC, the head of the 2nd department of the GUGB NKVD, state security commissar of the 3rd rank, Fedotov, was instructed to organize, together with the People’s Commissariat of Finance of the USSR, a tax scheme for use against the clergy of the UGCC - taxation of the clergy in the Western regions of the Ukrainian SSR should be carried out “according to agreement with the local NKVD apparatus."
Initial plans to liquidate the UGCC, by creating a Ukrainian church with its subsequent annexation to the Russian Orthodox Church, were created by the NKVD in 1940-41, but the war prevented the implementation of the plans. After 1945, the liquidation of the UGCC was already planned to be carried out without the intermediate creation of any Ukrainian church.
From the NKGB action plan for the liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church in the western regions of Ukraine from September 26-30, 1945:
* “In order to stimulate the transition of Greek Catholic parishes to Orthodoxy, use the tax pressure, differentiating it in such a way that Orthodox parishes are taxed normally and not higher than 25%, united around the Initiative Group of the Greek Catholic Church for its reunification with Orthodoxy - 40% , Greek Catholic parishes and monasteries - 100% of the maximum tax rate.[...]
* Ensure the possibility of the complete liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church by reuniting it with the Russian Orthodox Church."
To give the cathedral legitimacy and canonicity, the NKGB recommended that the Central Initiative Group send invitations to the cathedral to the most prominent opposition figures, including the brother of the deceased metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky, the abbot of the Studite monks, Kliment Sheptytsky. A total of 13 such invitations were sent out, however, without informing the Central Initiative Group about this, the NKGB took measures to ensure that opponents of reunification received these invitations by the end of the council.
All bishops of the UGCC refused to participate in this council. The majority of the UGCC episcopate was subsequently subjected to repression.
Preparation and holding of the council
The creation of the so-called Central Initiative Group, headed by Dr. G. Kostelnik, for the “reunification” of the Greek Catholic Church with the Russian Orthodox Church was inspired by the NKGB as part of the plan to liquidate the UGCC.
From a memo by P. Drozdetsky to the NKGB of the USSR on the liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church in the western regions of Ukraine dated February 16, 1946:
* [...] After a thorough study of the situation, we developed a plan for the liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church, the implementation of which we began [...]
* Implementing this plan, in April 1945, in the regional newspapers of Lvov, Ternopil, Stanislav, Drohobych and the central newspaper “Pravda Ukrainy”, on our initiative, an extensive article “With a cross or a knife” was published against the Uniates, which played a significant role in the case preparations for the liquidation of this church. The article revealed the anti-Soviet activities of the top of the Uniate Greek Catholic clergy and exposed it to the loyal part of the clergy and to the believers.
* Having thus prepared public opinion, on April 11, 1945 we carried out the arrests of Metropolitan Joseph BLIND, Bishops KHOMYSHIN, BUDKA, CHARNETSKY, LYATYSHEVSKY, as well as a number of priests of the Uniate Church who had most compromised themselves with anti-Soviet activities. By decapitating the Greek Catholic Church, we created the preconditions for organizing a movement aimed at eliminating the union and reuniting this church with the Russian Orthodox Church. For this purpose, on May 30, 1945, we created the “Central Initiative Group for the Reunification of the Greek Catholic Church with the Russian Orthodox Church,” which included authoritative priests: Dr. KOSTELNIK - from the Lviv diocese, Dr. MELNIK, Vicar General - from the Drohobych diocese and PELVETSKY - subsequently held as chairman of the Stanislav diocese.
Financing, preparation for and actual holding of the cathedral in Lvov in 1946 was carried out in accordance with the plan for the liquidation of the UGCC, developed and approved by the NKGB of the USSR:
On the recommendation of the NKGB, the work of the initiative group, the preparation and holding of the UGCC council was financed by the People's Commissariat of Finance of the USSR, through the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR and the Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine - a total of about 500 thousand rubles were allocated, of which 75 thousand rubles were allocated for the operating expenses of the NKGB .
I CONFIRM TOP SECRET: People's Commissar of State Security of the Ukrainian SSR, Lieutenant General Savchenko
PLAN of intelligence and operational activities for holding the Cathedral of the Greek Catholic Uniate Church of the Western Regions of Ukraine in the city of Lviv
In accordance with the instructions of the NKGB of the USSR No. 854 dated January 25, 1946 on convening a council of the Greek Catholic Uniate Church in the western regions of Ukraine to liquidate it by merging with the Russian Orthodox Church, outline the following practical plan for intelligence and operational activities:
1. To convene a council of the Greek Catholic Uniate Church for the liquidation of the union and the reunification of this church with the Russian Orthodox Church through the Central Initiative Group in the city of Lvov in the premises of the Cathedral "St. Yura" on 7.3.46 in such a way that the cathedral finishes its work in Sunday, 10.3.46, i.e. on the day of the "Week of Orthodoxy".
To organize the implementation of this plan [...], send a special task force to Lviv, headed by Deputy. People's Commissar of State Security of the Ukrainian SSR Lieutenant General Comrade. DROZDETSKY. The operatives of the 2nd Directorate of the NKGB of the USSR, sent to the city of Lvov to participate in the conduct of intelligence and operational activities for the convening of the cathedral, were included in the special task force, subordinating them to its leader, Lieutenant General Comrade. DROZDETSKY. .... 3. The report on the main issue - “On the history of the Brest Union of the Orthodox Church with the Vatican, on the abolition and return to the “womb” of the Russian Orthodox Church” - should be entrusted to the Chairman of the Central Initiative Group, Dr. KOSTELNIK.
4. At the Council of the Greek Catholic Uniate Church...adopt the following documents:
a) the text of a telegram on behalf of the council to the Government of the USSR addressed to Comrade STALIN; b) text of the telegram text of the telegram on behalf of the council to the Government of the Ukrainian SSR addressed to Comrade KHRUSCHOV; c) the text of telegrams addressed to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Patriarch of All Rus' ALEXIY and Exarch of Ukraine; d) the text of the declaration of the council addressed to the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR addressed to the chairman of its comrade. BUCKWHEAT; e) the text of the council resolution on the abolition of the Union of Brest of 1596, the break with the Vatican and the return of the Russian Orthodox Church to the “womb of the mother”; f) the text of the council's appeals to the clergy and believers of the Greek Catholic Church on the break with the Vatican and on reunification with the Russian Orthodox Church.
5. To develop a practical plan for holding the council, its technical preparation and editing of draft documents to be adopted by the council, convene a narrow pre-conciliar meeting in Lvov on 5.3.46. At the pre-conciliar meeting, allow the Central Initiative Group to call 4 representatives from each diocese from among deans - activists for reunification with Orthodoxy.
6. Permission for the council of the Greek Catholic Church and for a narrow pre-conciliar meeting to be issued to the Central Initiative Group through the Lviv Regional Executive Committee.
7. In order to give the council of the Greek Catholic Church legitimacy and canonicity, before its convocation, carry out the transition to Orthodoxy and the consecration of members of the Central Initiative Group as bishops - the vicar general of the Drohobych diocese MELNIK and the representative of the Stanislav diocese PELVETSKY. ... For the consecration of the third candidate for bishop, intended as vicar of the Lvov diocese, complete the check of the dean of the Stanislav diocese, DURBAK, intended for this. Upon completion of the verification, the intended candidacy is sanctioned by the NKGB of the USSR. The consecration will take place in Lvov in the final part of the cathedral.
11. After approval of the delegates to the council by the Central Initiative Group, propose that the UNKGB for the Lviv, Drohobych, Stanislav and Ternopil regions provide by 18.2.46 to the head of the special task force in Lviv lists of delegates to the council, to the pre-conciliar meeting and for the consecration as bishop of MELNIKA and PELVETSKY. For the lists of delegates to the council, please attach detailed characteristics of each delegate individually. [...]
The number of delegates to the council, according to the basic plan approved by the NKGB of the USSR, is determined by the number of dean's offices available in its dioceses (or regions), calculating 1-2 delegates from the dean's office - depending on the presence in them of active supporters of reunification with the Russian Orthodox Church. An exception may be those Greek Catholic deaneries in which there are no supporters of reunification... Delegates from such deaneries cannot be allocated to the council.
12. The UNKGB for the Lvov, Drohobych and Stanislav regions [...] allocate for participation at the council as guests such lay people who could speak at the council for the reunification of the Greek Catholic Church with the Russian Orthodox Church. The number of laymen in the Lviv diocese should not exceed 12 people, in the Drohobych diocese - 10 people and in the Stanislavskaya diocese - 8 people... Lists of allocated laity, with detailed characteristics of them... must be provided simultaneously with the lists of delegates to the council in the manner prescribed in paragraph 11. 13. UNKGB, after allocating delegates to the council and approving them by the Central Initiative Group, carefully check [...] the line of conduct of each of them in order to promptly remove unreliable delegates from participating in the work of the council. [...]
17. The UNKGB of Drohobych, Stanislav and Ternopil regions, through local railway transport authorities, provide full assistance in the departure of the delegates of the cathedral to Lviv at the appointed time, ensuring that they are provided with reserved seat tickets or a separate carriage for this purpose.
18. Through local authorities, secretly ensure the allocation for the Central Initiative Group of the Greek Catholic Church and at its expense the required number of rooms and beds in hotels in Lviv with the organization of meals in one of the hotels for all participants of the cathedral.
19. Enter with a petition to the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR to allocate the necessary food limits for organizing meals for the delegates of the cathedral in Lvov for the period from 7 to 10.3.46 inclusive.
20. The UNKGB for the Lvov, Drohobych, Stanislav and Ternopil regions, by 12.2.46, submit for reorganization to the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR certificates with compromising materials on active opponents of the reunification of the Greek Catholic Church with Orthodoxy, so that their arrests, according to the instructions of the NKGB of the USSR , could have been carried out by the UNKGB in advance, before the convening of the council, i.e. no later than 20.2.46
21. Publish on February 22-23. in the central, regional and district press of the Ukrainian SSR a draft notice from the USSR Prosecutor's Office about the crimes of the arrested former leaders of the Greek Catholic Uniate Church, Metropolitan Joseph BLIND, Bishops CHARNETSKY, BUDK, KHOMYSHIN and DYATYSHEVSKY. The draft notice from the Prosecutor's Office must first be sent to the NKGB of the USSR for reorganization.
22. In connection with the convening of the council, the UNKGB [...] mobilizes attention [...] among Greek Catholics, especially in circles of opponents of reunification with Orthodoxy and through the OUN underground, to identify sentiments and possible attempts to disrupt the council in order to in order to ensure the suppression of such attempts in a timely manner.[...] ...they are especially mobilized along the indicated lines, as well as along the line of the Ukrainian intelligentsia in the city of Lvov, immediately before the cathedral and, and mainly, on the days when the cathedral will be held. For the purpose of secrecy, [...] specifically study the mood in connection with the convening of the council only when the fact of convening becomes generally known.
23. In connection with the convening of the Council of the Greek Catholic Church, as well as during its work, take guaranteed precautionary measures and personal protection of members of the Central Initiative Group - KOSTELNIK, MELNIK and PELVETSKY, as well as the delegation of Orthodox bishops who will be present at the Council. For these purposes, by 3.3.46, send a group of experienced intelligence officers headed by Deputy to the city of Lvov at the disposal of a special group of the NKGB of the USSR. the chief of Operod, Lieutenant Colonel MISHAKOV, equipping him so that some of them could attend the meetings of the cathedral as guests for observation.
24. During the work of the cathedral, in the premises of “St. Yura” or in the nearest convenient area, organize a closed external reconnaissance post for observation, as well as a point of quick communication with the intelligence officers who will be guests at the cathedral. [...] establish two external police posts, subordinating them to a closed external intelligence post. [...] connect by telephone with the operational group of the NKGB of the USSR.[...]
26. Take measures [...] for the Exarch of Ukraine to allocate a delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church to participate in the Council of the Greek Catholic Church [...] The delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church in the specified composition must have from the Exarch of Ukraine all the necessary powers for practical reunification participants of the cathedral with Orthodoxy. 27. Through the Orthodox Exarchate of Ukraine, take measures to ensure that the sums of money allocated for holding the cathedral are at the disposal of the Initiative Group [...] uninterruptedly. [...] monitor the correct expenditure of amounts [...] and timely submission of reports on these amounts.
30. When preparing for the council [...] and convening it, strictly adhere to the instructions of the NKGB of the USSR on observing the strictest secrecy of our participation in it.
31. [...] In addition, the special operational group of the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR is charged with the duty, observing strict secrecy, to oversee the final editing of all documents subject to adoption by the Council of the Greek Catholic Church.
All the efforts of the special group of the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR should be directed towards the uninterrupted holding of a council of the Greek Catholic Church with the aim of issuing a resolution on the liquidation of the union and the reunification of the Greek Catholic Church with the Russian Orthodox Church.
For the rest, when carrying out the tasks set during the preparation of the convening of the Council of the Greek Catholic Church and carrying out its convening, be guided by the main plan of the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR, approved by the NKGB of the USSR, and its instructions.
32. Send information to the NKGB of the USSR about preparations for the council on February 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and March 5, and about the progress of the council - daily - on March 7, 8, 9, and 10. d. Send the final report on the council to the NKGB of the USSR on March 15, 1946.
START 2 DIRECTORATE OF THE NKGB OF THE USSR Colonel Medvedev DEPUTY CHIEF. 2nd Department of the NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR Colonel Karin
I AGREE: DEPUTY PEOPLE'S COMMISSIONER OF STATE SECURITY OF THE USSR, Lieutenant General DROZDETSKY
After the union with the Russian Orthodox Church, the catacomb period of the UGCC began, accompanied by the persecution of the clergy and laity of the UGCC, their deportation to Siberia and the northern regions of the USSR. Until 1990, bishops, priests and monks of the UGCC who remained in Western Ukraine continued to serve illegally. According to some reports, the number of their parishioners numbered up to 4 million people, who were forced to worship in private houses and apartments or attend Roman Catholic churches. A significant part of the believers, remaining Greek Catholics, attended Orthodox churches of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In February 1990, after a meeting in the Vatican between USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II, the ban on the creation of Greek Catholic communities was lifted and the go-ahead was given for their registration and holding services. Most of the UGCC churches in Western Ukraine, given to the Russian Orthodox Church after 1946, were returned to the UGCC.
Today, in terms of the number of parishes in Ukraine, the UGCC is second only to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) - the UOC (MP). As of the beginning of 2002, there were almost 3,300 of them. Moreover, the vast majority of parishes are concentrated in Western Ukraine.
On August 29, 2005, a new period in the history of the UGCC began, marked by the return of the residence of its head from Lvov to Kyiv. On this day, Pope Benedict XVI awarded the Primate of the UGCC a new church title - His Beatitude Supreme Archbishop of Kiev-Galicia. Before this, starting from December 23, 1963, the head of the UGCC was called His Beatitude the Supreme Archbishop of Lvov; even before this, starting in 1807, by His Eminence Metropolitan of Galicia; The original title of the head of the UGCC, starting from the time of the Union of Brest, was His Eminence Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus'. However, starting from the 1960s, the clergy and laity of the UGCC themselves call the Primate of their Church His Beatitude the Patriarch of Kiev-Galicia and All Rus'. The official Vatican authorities do not recognize this title, but do not object to its use. One of the main goals of the modern leadership of the UGCC is to achieve official recognition of the patriarchate by the Vatican.
The UOC (MP) indicates that the Ukrainian state, in its opinion, specifically encourages the growth of the influence of the UGCC in the country, its expansion to the East [source?]. It is with this, according to the leadership of the UOC (MP), that the decision of the synod of bishops of the UGCC to move the residence of the head of the UGCC to Kiev is connected, where the construction of the Holy Resurrection Patriarchal Cathedral of the UGCC has been underway for some time, while the Lviv authorities do not allow the construction of the cathedral church of the UOC yourself in the city. The UOC (MP) also points out that the excessive number of Greek Catholic monasteries and their inhabitants, as well as students of educational institutions, in the absence of places for ministry in the west of Ukraine, indicates the inevitability of migration of the Uniate clergy to the East (including outside Ukraine). The UGCC maintains friendly and warm relations with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, implements common projects and even holds joint services.
At the beginning of 2006, it became known that the UGCC plans to conduct an accounting of the property that belonged to the church before its liquidation in 1946, after which it is planned to begin negotiations with the current owners of this property regarding its return or reimbursement of its value. The property in question is mainly churches and premises that belonged to the UGCC, and then were partially nationalized or transferred to the ownership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Some of these premises have already been returned after 1990.
According to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate (UOC-KP), these plans could lead to an escalation of the conflict between the UGCC and Orthodox denominations in Western Ukraine, to “a repeat of the situation of the early 1990s with the violent seizure of churches, premises and bloodshed.” According to the UOC-KP, “Orthodox churches can also demand the return of churches that belonged to them before the signing of the Union of Brest, and are now owned by the UGCC,” so the UGCC has the right to keep records of its property only “for the purpose of moral rehabilitation and documentary restoration of historical justice.” .
Reaction to the liquidation of the UGCC
In general, according to UNKGB reports, the population perceived the “reunification” with the Russian Orthodox Church, in general, neutral or positive. A significant part of the Ukrainian intelligentsia reacted negatively to the decision of the Lviv Council, who understood that the liquidation of the UGCC was a way to bring Western Ukraine closer to the situation in which the rest of the USSR had been for many years, to strengthen ties with Moscow; some representatives of the Ukrainian intelligentsia saw this as an attempt to Russify the Ukrainian Church and an attack on Ukrainian culture.
From UNKGB reports on the reaction of the Ukrainian intelligentsia to the publication of a notice from the USSR Prosecutor's Office about the accusation of I. Slipy and the upcoming liquidation of the UGCC:
Academician Shchurat:
* "If they want to destroy the Blind Man and the bishops, there would need to be a lot of shouting about the council and new bishops. The Bolsheviks seem to have stolen something, and now they are handling things like thieves"
Associate Professor of the Lviv Pedagogical Institute Dzeverin:
* "The present reunification is a new union. That was a union with Rome, and this one with Moscow. Instead of one union there will be another. [...]"
Secretary of the Union of Soviet Writers of Lvov D. Kondra:
* “Everything that is written is not true. The whole fault is that they are Ukrainian priests and representatives of the Uniate Church. As priests, they should have prayed for power, without entering into a discussion of what kind of power it is.”
Writer Duchemilskaya:
* “The Bolsheviks did a lot of harm to themselves with this message, the peasantry will distance themselves even more from them, the arrest and trial of the BLIND and the bishops is tantamount to getting into the soul and trampling on the holy of holies.”
The attitude of the OUN towards the liquidation of the UGCC was sharply negative, although in general both the OUN and the UPA supported Orthodoxy, however, in holding the council they emphasized the political motives of the event held under the patronage of the NKGB. In 1946, the OUN carried out active campaigning against the liquidation of the UGCC and the unification of churches. The position of the OUN was as follows:
* 1. “We, as a political organization, are not interested in dogmatic issues of Catholicism and Orthodoxy.
* 2. From the side of our revolutionary tactics, we are against the transition of the Greek-Catholic Church for the following reasons:
o a) Moscow is interested in this, it is the initiator and forces it;
o b) this opens the way for the Enkavedists - Moscow priests - to enter the inside of the Greek Catholic Church;
o c) this will be a forced national unification of the Ukrainian people with the Moscow people, which leads to the elimination of Ukrainianness through denationalization and Russification;
o d) this will paralyze the cadres of the Greek Catholic Ukrainian clergy and at the same time eliminate another possibility of fighting Moscow;
o e) this, in the end, knocks out one of the important arguments of our overseas propaganda about the Bolshevik policy towards the church"
Foreign press and radio about the liquidation of the UGCC.
Rome, newspaper "Popolo" dated 02/19/1946:
* "The Moscow Radio report about the annexation of the Western Ukrainian Church to the Orthodox Church is a trick of the lowest nature"[...] All the bishops and clergy of Western Ukraine were exiled, imprisoned and now replaced by a bunch of apostates led by the same Kostelnik, who for his efforts, the post of Metropolitan of Lvov was promised. These traitors to the flock and faith are hated by believers.
* “In Transcarpathian Rus', as in all eastern regions beyond the Curzon Line, Soviet policy is aimed at completely destroying Catholicism. Russian authorities expelled 400 Catholic priests from Transcarpathian Russia. In this country, Catholic schools were closed, and church property was confiscated. Sermons are subject to censorship.[...] At communist rallies, people are called upon to convert to the Orthodox faith."
Structure
The UGCC is the largest Eastern Catholic Church. According to the Annuario Pontificio for 2007, the number of believers is 4 million 284 thousand people. The church has about 3,000 priests and 43 bishops. The church owns 4,175 parishes.
Territorial structure of the UGCC:
* Metropolis of Kiev-Galicia (covers the territory of Ukraine with the exception of Transcarpathia, where the autonomous Mukachevo diocese with its center in Uzhgorod functions, which is under the direct jurisdiction of the Pope and is part of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, and not the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church):
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Eastern Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches.
It arose as a result of the conclusion of the Union of Brest in 1596 and finally took shape in Lvov in 1700. Under the terms of the union, Eastern Christians, reunited with the See of St. Peter, fully preserved their traditional rituals and language of worship. At the same time, they recognized the authority of the Pope and all Catholic dogma.
During the Brest Council, the territory of all of Ukraine was part of the Polish-Lithuanian state. In the western part of Ukraine, which continued to remain part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Church was the main factor in preserving the cultural and religious identity of the Ukrainian population. With the transition of Western Ukrainian lands to the Austrian state, the Greek Catholic hierarchy received full support and patronage from the government of the Habsburg monarchy.
In the western lands of Ukraine, including Transcarpathia, which for many years were part of Catholic states, the Greek Catholic Church took root and became traditional for most of the population. During the period of Polish and Austrian rule in Western Ukraine from the 17th to the 20th centuries, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church enjoyed great authority among Ukrainians.
The first books in Ukrainian appear in Western Ukraine. Their authors are Greek Catholic priests. In Greek Catholic schools, teaching in Ukrainian is being introduced. In 1848, the Greek Catholic Metropolitan Grigory Yakimovich headed the first Ukrainian political organization - Ruska Holovna Rada.
Catholicism of the Eastern rite was at one time partly widespread in the territory of the Russian Empire. However, by order of Nicholas I in 1839, the so-called Synod of Polotsk abolished Greek Catholicism in Russia. Some of his followers were forcibly converted to Orthodoxy, some switched to the Latin rite, but the majority secretly remained Greek Catholics.
The most important stage in the development of Greek Catholicism occurred during the period of the activity of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky (1865 - 1944). Vladyka Sheptytsky dreamed of a great independent Ukraine and the spread of Greek Catholicism throughout the entire territory of the Russian Empire. His activities constituted an era in the history of the development of the Church. He reorganized the seminaries, reformed the Studite order and founded the eastern branch of the Redemptorist order. The clergy were sent to study at Austrian, German and Roman universities. The Metropolitan also contributed to the emergence of Ukrainian public (cultural, social) organizations, both in Galicia and in America. On the eve of the First World War in Galicia there were 3 thousand schools, 27 gymnasiums, 2944 cells of the cultural society "Prosvit", the Scientific Society named after. Taras Shevchenko, 500 people's agricultural cooperatives.
By 1945, the Greek Catholic Church had over 4 thousand churches and chapels, 2772 parishes, a Theological Academy and theological seminaries. The church was involved in charity work and paid a lot of attention to the preservation of Ukrainian culture. However, by the end of the Second World War, the relationship between the Soviet state and the Greek Catholic Church became significantly more complicated.
State security agencies created an initiative group among the Greek Catholic clergy, which advocated the abolition of the union with Rome and the transition to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. An initiative group of priests led by Protopresbyter Gabriel Kastelnik convened the so-called in 1946. "Lviv Cathedral of the Greek Catholic Church", which was never recognized by the Greek Catholics themselves. Under pressure from the authorities, at this false council a decision was made on the self-liquidation of the Church and the transfer of believers to the Russian Orthodox Church. At the same time, there was not a single active Greek Catholic bishop; all of them were arrested and repressed for refusing to take part in the false council. On April 11, 1945, Metropolitan Joseph Slipy and other hierarchs were arrested. Most of them died in exile. Hundreds of priests, monks, nuns and lay faithful were arrested and sent to camps, many along with their wives and children.
Until 1990, the Greek Catholics who existed in Western Ukraine - bishops, priests and monks - were in an illegal position. The flock of this Church at that time numbered about 6 million people. Believers were forced to worship in private houses and apartments or attend Latin Catholic churches. A significant part of the believers, remaining Greek Catholics, attended Orthodox churches transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate. Between 1946 and 1989, the UGCC was the largest banned Church in the world. At the same time, it became the largest structure of public opposition to the Soviet system in the USSR. Despite severe persecution, the Church continued to live underground through an elaborate system of secret seminaries, monasteries, parishes and youth groups.
In February 1990, the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR made a statement that Catholics of the Eastern rite can create their own religious societies, register them in the prescribed manner, decide on the location of prayer meetings, and freely practice their worship. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church acquired official status. In order for the process of restoration of the Greek Catholic communities to proceed normally, without incidents, a quadripartite commission was created. It included representatives of the Vatican, the Moscow Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
In 1991, Pope John Paul II convened the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Rome. The Pope recognized the Greek Catholic bishops as the direct heirs of “the Church, which was born with the baptism of Kievan Rus and which entered the second millennium of its existence.” He also supported the desire of the bishops to “care for the welfare and development of all dioceses and the Church as a whole in Ukraine and in the diaspora.” At the same time, he reminded the bishops of the words of St. Paul about the need to live in humility, meekness, patience and mutual love, "trying to maintain the unity of the spirit through the bonds of peace. One Lord, one faith, one baptism."
In the early 90s. in Western Ukraine, most of the churches of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, transferred after 1946 to the Russian Orthodox Church MP, again found themselves in the hands of Greek Catholics. This caused conflicts between the believers of these Churches. Representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate declare the defeat of 3 Orthodox dioceses in Western Ukraine, and Greek Catholics say that they were never there, it’s just that Moscow priests were appointed to the churches, which had always been Greek Catholic, and then they themselves were expelled believers. Until now, relations between believers of the two faiths continue to be based on extremely hostile ones. This was also evident during the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ukraine in the summer of 2001, when part of the Orthodox community staged protests.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church currently has over 3 thousand communities, 10 bishops, and the head of the Church is the Supreme Archbishop. The current Supreme Archbishop is Cardinal Lubomir Huzar, who was elected to this see in December 2000, after the death of his predecessor, Cardinal Miroslav Ivan Lubachivsky.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has the largest number of believers in Western Ukraine. In terms of the number of parishes and monasteries, this Church ranks second in Ukraine among religious organizations.
The idea of restoring Christian unity has not left individual representatives of both Catholicism and Orthodoxy since the church schism in 1054
In Ukraine, similar attempts were made back in the 13th century, and two centuries later, after the Council of Florence (1439), this idea was close to its implementation. The main obstacle was mutual suspicion and mistrust. Representatives of Orthodoxy were primarily afraid of being subordinated to the Roman Curia (the set of institutions that govern the Catholic Church). And not without reason, because methods, one of which was union - the unification of the Catholic and Orthodox churches through church union, were often implemented where Rome was not able to establish itself through direct Catholicization of the population.
The first attempts to penetrate the Latin rite into Russia occurred during the reign of Vladimir. The then existing two Christian centers - the Greek (Byzantine), headed by the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople, and the Roman, led by the Pope, tried to bring the rich and strong Kiev state closer to themselves through religion. True, the attempts of Roman missionaries to penetrate Rus' even before the official introduction of Christianity were in vain. The German Emperor Otto I, trying to subjugate the Slavic countries, sent the monk Adalbert to Kyiv with the title “Russian Bishop,” but Princess Olga did not accept him, and he was forced to flee. The Latin rite in Rus' was little known and mentally alien. Despite the fact that some representatives of the Catholic clergy believe that Rus' was baptized by Roman missionaries, and that is why many Russian bishops sought union. But this point of view is not shared even by representatives of the Greek Catholic clergy.
In 988, after Prince Vladimir accepted Christianity and was preparing the baptism of Rus', the Pope, under the pretext of transferring relics from Rome to the prince, again sent ambassadors with instructions to persuade him to the Latin rite. However, this time the ambassadors failed to complete their mission. After the division of churches in 1054, one of the main participants in this process, Cardinal Humbert, immediately left Constantinople for Kyiv to convert the princely court to Catholicism, but in vain.
In 1204, Pope Innocent III, through his ambassadors, suggested that the Galician-Volyn prince Roman Mstislavovich accept Catholicism, promising, with the help of the “sword of Petrov,” to establish the prince as king of all Russia. The prince rejected the offer, but after his death, Galich was captured by the Hungarian king Andras II, who began to spread Catholicism. Andrew II, demanding the royal crown of Galicia for his five-year-old son, assured that this was what the nobles and the people of the country he conquered wanted, who supposedly wanted to unite with the Roman Church. However, even Greek Catholic historians call this union “historical ephemeris" , concluded only for political reasons. When Prince Mstislav appeared at the walls of Galich in 1219, the population, exhausted by bullying, was drawn to him. Many Ugrophilic boyars and Vladyka Artemy went with the invaders, and the union lost all its supporters.
Pope Innocent IV tried to use the Teutonic Order to spread Catholicism in Rus'. According to the agreement between this order and Sweden, concluded under the tutelage of the Roman Curia, both sides simultaneously launched a war against Northwestern Rus'. But after Prince Alexander Nevsky defeated the Swedes on the Neva in 1240, and in 1242 he defeated the Teutonic-Lithuanian crusaders in the Battle of the Ice, Innocent IV established peaceful relations with Russia and sent his legates (ambassadors) to A. Nevsky in 1248 proposal to submit to the Roman Church. The prince resolutely refused and ended relations with the papal throne.
At this time, a destructive wave of the Mongol-Tatar invasion was rolling across Rus'. The Mongol-Tatar threat forced Innocent IV to include the issue of protection from invaders on the agenda of the Lyon Council of the Roman Church, convened on July 24, 1245. A few weeks before it began, the Pope sent an embassy to the Horde led by the experienced diplomat Giovanni-Paolo del Carpini, who was supposed to convey Khan an offer to accept the Catholic faith and establish peaceful relations with the Catholic states of Western Europe. Before that, the ambassadors had to meet with the princes and representatives of the church hierarchy of Rus' and convince them of the need for unity with the Roman Church. In February 1246, the Galician prince Daniil Romanovich negotiated with Innocent IV about organizing a crusade against the Mongol-Tatars together with European states, subject to the subordination of local dioceses to Rome.
The difficult situation of Galician-Volyn Rus', which was under pressure from the Tatars on one side and the Polish-Hungarian feudal lords on the other, inclined Daniel to accept the Pope’s proposal for joint action. Innocent IV, with a bull of August 27, 1247, proclaimed the unity of the Galician princes with the Roman Church, but Daniel, convinced of the Pope’s intentions, ceased relations with the Roman Curia. Around 1254, the Pope suddenly offered Daniel the royal crown, promising to organize a crusade against the Mongol-Tatars. Daniel was crowned in Dorogichina (on the Western Bug) in 1254, but, in despair, he again broke off relations with the pope.
Guided by political motives, the Byzantine emperor and the Roman high priests concluded the Union of Lyons (1274) and Florence (1439). However, they were not extended to Rus'.
In the first half of the 15th century. A stubborn struggle ensued between Moscow and Lithuania for the metropolitan center in Russia. After the death of Metropolitan Photius (1432), Bishop Jonah of Ryazan was elected Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus'. And the Lithuanian prince Svidrigailo sent to Constantinople his candidate for the Russian metropolitanate - Bishop Gerasim of Smolensk, who in 1433 was confirmed as metropolitan, but only of Lithuania. When Jonah arrived in Constantinople in 1436 for confirmation, he was refused, saying that the Greek Isidore, an active supporter of the union, had already been installed as Metropolitan of All Rus'. Jonah was promised the metropolis after him.
Constantinople preferred Isidore, counting on the Pope's help in the fight against the Turkish conquerors. Rome demanded for this to enter into a union with it and recognize the supremacy of the Roman high priest. The Byzantine Emperor John Palaiologos and the church hierarchs agreed to the union, and to please Rome they were ready to drag Rus' into it.
In April 1437, Isidore arrived in Moscow, where he was not received very favorably. Having stayed there for up to four months, he began to gather for the Council of Florence, which was supposed to resolve the issue of the union of Constantinople with Rome. From the council that proclaimed the union (1439), Isidore went to Moscow as a cardinal and “legate from the apostolic side in the lands of Livonian, Lithuanian and Russian,” that is, as the actual viceroy of the Pope in the Russian principalities. When Isidore in March 1441, celebrating the liturgy, announced the acts of the Florence Council, he aroused the wrath of the Grand Duke, the clergy and believers. He was branded as a traitor to Orthodoxy and arrested. The Council of Bishops of 1441 recognized Isidore's signature under the act of union as invalid, condemned him as a heretic and defrocked him. He was the last person of Greek origin to head the Russian Church. It was the Florence Council that became one of the main reasons why the Russian Church began to seek autocephaly.
Union, as is known, did not save Byzantium from disaster. In 1453, the Turks sacked Constantinople. Soon Constantinople abandoned the union. However, Rome did not abandon its plans. When the Principality of Moscow, which was waging a protracted Livonian War, found itself under the threat of invasion by the Swedes from the north, Poles from the west, and Turks and Nogais from the south, Ivan IV (the Terrible) turned to the Roman Curia for help. In response, Pope Gregory XIII invites the couple to submit to the “vicar of God on earth” and accept the terms of the Council of Florence. But this proposal was rejected.
Political and economic decline of Ukraine in the 14th century. This was accompanied by one unpleasant factor for her: the growing power of neighboring states - Lithuania, Poland, Muscovy, which nurtured their expansionist plans for Ukrainian lands. During this period, Lithuania took control of several small principalities of the Left Bank, occupied Kyiv, and subsequently Podolia, part of Volyn. Poland captured Galicia and part of Volyn. Their penetration into Ukraine was accompanied by armed confrontations between them. But in 1385, feeling the threat of the Teutonic Order, Lithuania and Poland concluded the Union of Krevo - a political union of two states, sealed by the marriage of the Lithuanian prince Jagiello with the Polish queen Jadwiga. Galicia, like a significant part of the territory of South-Western Rus', found itself within the boundaries of a single Polish-Lithuanian state. The Polish gentry, who moved to the east, ousted the Lithuanians and Ukrainians from governing the state.
The process of Catholicization and Polonization began. The position of Orthodoxy weakened, since after the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars the residence of the metropolitan was moved to Vladimir-on-Klyazma, and then to Moscow.
The political union of Poland and Lithuania strengthened after the Gorodel Union of 1413, according to which the Lithuanian boyars and gentry were equal in rights and privileges with the Polish gentry. From that time on, every Lithuanian-Russian prince had to recognize the superiority of the Polish king. Only Catholics applied for government positions. In Galicia, an offensive began against the “heretics”, apostates, schismatics (as Catholics called the Orthodox). The Orthodox Church is experiencing crushing blows, its situation is complicated by the fact that in Poland there is no longer any need to look back. Patriarch of Constantinople.
In 1568, a large army of Jesuits, members of the Catholic monastic order, were sent to Poland to strengthen the Catholic faith; they soon began to dominate religious and government life. This was due to the fact that among the Polish nobility, ready with “fire and sword” to assert the cross of the Catholic Church “on the eastern outskirts,” the idea of independence from Rome was gaining ground. However, the Jesuits put an end to these sentiments and created an effective system for the Catholicization of the Lithuanian, Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples , first of all, the gentry and the Orthodox clergy.They began to persistently and hastily prepare a union of the Orthodox and Catholic churches, which, while preserving for a time the traditional Eastern customs and liturgical rites of the people, was supposed to become a means of gradually converting the Uniates to the faith, rites and customs of the Roman Church.
This preparation included disorganization and discrediting of the Orthodox Church. The Polish-Lithuanian feudal elite, in order to weaken the influence of Orthodoxy in Ukrainian and Belarusians, tried to create a metropolitanate independent of Moscow with its center in Kiev, contributed to the appointment of people to the highest spiritual positions, their actions discredited Orthodoxy. So, in 1583, Onesiphorus Divochka was the Metropolitan of Kyiv, who, contrary to the canons of the Orthodox Church, allowed all his bishops to marry, and even appointed polygamists as priests, which outraged the believers.
Union in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was seen by Rome as compensation for the losses inflicted on it by the Reformation, and a significant step towards the subjugation of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Jesuit Anthony Possevino once said that only by introducing Western Rus' to Catholicism can one achieve unity with Rome and Muscovite Rus'.
The idea of rapprochement with Rome was also supported by some representatives of the highest Orthodox clergy. In 1590, Lviv Bishop Gideon Balaban, irritated by disputes with the brotherhood and interference in affairs by the Patriarch of Constantinople, raised the issue of union at a secret meeting of bishops in Belz. He was supported by Lutsk Bishop Kirill Terletsky, Kholmsky - Dionysius Zbiruysky, Pinsk - Leonty Pelchitsky. In addition to certain personal motives, they hoped that the union would equalize political and social rights for both the Orthodox clergy and the believing townspeople and nobility.
After several secret negotiations with representatives of the royal court, the papal nuncio (ambassador, representative), they agreed to a union if traditional Orthodox liturgy, rituals, as well as some customs (the right of priests to marry) were preserved. Instead, they accepted the supremacy of Rome in all matters of faith and dogma. It was assumed that the newly formed church would not be part of the Polish Catholic Church, but would submit to Rome. In addition, the bishops hoped for some easing of pressure from the Polish king.
The conditions for the adoption of the union were discussed by the bishops at secret meetings in Sokal, Krasnostav, Kobrin, Brest during 1594-1595. Thus, detailed articles (articles) of the union were prepared, expressing consent and conditions for its adoption.
The Orthodox community received the news of the preparations for union with deep indignation. The authoritative prince in Galicia, Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky, sharply spoke out against her. Calling the bishops “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” he called on believers to protest, threatening an armed uprising. In these circumstances, G. Balaban renounced his intentions regarding the union and went into opposition to it. Bishop of Przemysl Mikhail Kopystensky demanded that the issue of union be submitted to a council with the participation of all the clergy, nobility and brotherhoods.
However, King Sigismund III, fearing that the Orthodox might destroy the process of preparing the union, did not agree to convening a council, sending bishops Hypatius Potius and Cyril of Terletsky to Rome. In December 1595, they submitted a petition to the bishops of the Orthodox Church in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for a union with the Roman Church, read and signed the Creed (Filioque), recognized the supreme power of the Pope, and the decrees of the Florence and Trent collections. The papal bull of the Uniate Church ensured the preservation of Eastern rites, the right of priests to marry, and permission for the Kyiv metropolitans to appoint local bishops. On this occasion, a medal was even minted: on one side there is a portrait of the Pope, on the other - the Pope on the throne, blessing the Uniate ambassador, who is kneeling. With sheets on the conclusion of the union, dated February 7, 1596, the Pope asked Sigismund III and the Catholic hierarchs to help the union, and ordered Metropolitan Michael Rogoza to convene a council of bishops for the same confession of faith, which was demonstrated in Rome by I. Potius and K. Terletsky.
The Orthodox took advantage of the king’s permission and the metropolitan’s invitation to the cathedral and sought to ensure that it became a cathedral of the Orthodox Church. Members of the Uniate Council did not even allow the thought of the possibility of a joint council with opponents of the union. The Uniate Synod, consisting of a metropolitan, five bishops and three archimandrites, under the leadership of three papal legates and three royal ambassadors, carried out the will of the Pope: its participants made a confession of the Roman Catholic faith and gave obedience to Pope Clement VIII and his heirs. An act of this with seals was handed over to the papal ambassadors, and on October 8, 1596 a conciliar charter was issued.
The resolutions of two councils - Uniate and Orthodox, which were held simultaneously in Brest on October 6-10, 1596, were presented to King Sigismund III, but the king ignored the resolution of the Orthodox council. Thus, Orthodoxy in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was actually outlawed. All rights that belonged to the Orthodox Church were transferred to the Uniate Church; Difficult times have come for the Orthodox clergy and laity.
The decision of the Brest Council caused a split in Ukrainian society, gave rise to heated public polemics (Ivan Vyshensky, Kassian Sakovich, Stefan Zizaniy), an anti-Catholic Cossack movement led by Severin Nalivaiko, and subsequently Hetman Petro Sagaidachny. The union was actively opposed by the brotherhoods of Lvov, Przemysl, Slutsk, Minsk, Mogilev and other cities. Even before the Union of Brest, they were the bodies of renewal of the church structure, but in their attempts to cleanse and raise the level; religious life and church relations soon found themselves in tension with the bishops. These relations were further aggravated by the fact that the Constantinople and other patriarchs took the position of brotherhoods. From Lvov and Vilna, the center of the struggle was moved to Kyiv. With the support of the Cossacks, the Kiev clergy and philistines openly ignored the Uniate hierarchy. Through the efforts of Elisha Pletenetsky and Zechariah Kopistensky, the Kiev Lavra is turning into a center of church-national activity. In 1615, the Kiev Brotherhood was founded, into which the Cossack hetman P. Sagaidachny and the entire Zaporozhye army entered.
The government of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth only in 1632, after the death of King Sigismund III, considered the Orthodox rights to the Kyiv Metropolis and four dioceses: Lviv, Lutsk, Przemysl and Mstislav.
Over the years of the existence of the Union of Brest, the Polish gentry strengthened its position in Ukraine, the process of denationalization of the Ukrainian gentry intensified, which, studying in Jesuit schools and colleges, converted to Latinism, facilitating their access to ranks and wealth. Thus, the sons of I. Potius were educated in Latin schools and became Catholics.
At the same time, the struggle against the union did not stop, which was facilitated by the growing role of Kyiv. Sent out in May 1648, the appeals of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky contained a call to those who were “washed by pious faith, the Poles in the reverse union,” to fight against the union, to rally “on good horses, with serviceable weapons without delay and to stand up courageously and fearlessly, with God’s almighty help against their robbers, oppressors and adversaries."
War of Liberation 1648-1654 Caused the actual collapse of the Uniate church organization. It was slowly restored only in the lands that remained under Polish rule. And having received, according to the Andrusov Treaty of 1667, Right Bank Ukraine, except for Kyiv, Poland undertook not to limit the “Greek-Russian” religion. Only in Galicia, Volyn and Podolia were its positions relatively strong, but even here the union remained until the end of the 17th century. was not widespread. For example, the Przemysl diocese transferred to the union in 1692, Lviv - in 1700, Lutsk - in 1702, until 1720. - Kholm, Polotsk, Pinsk dioceses.
Over time, Catholicism tried to penetrate deeper into the sphere of ritual and cult. The Uniate Council in Zamość (1720) abolished many Orthodox rituals and decided to issue liturgical books corrected in the Uniate spirit. Later, Uniate priests were ordered to adopt the external features of Catholic priests.
In 1772, the first partition of Poland took place, according to which Galicia found itself under Austria, which led to a different state structure and a slightly different attitude towards Catholicism and the union. The boundless arbitrariness of the gentry was squeezed into the cruel limits of Austrian laws, a significant part of Polish churches and monasteries were liquidated, and their lands were confiscated. A religious foundation was created on the basis of confiscated lands; The Greek Catholic (as it began to be called in 1774) church received equal rights with the Roman Catholic. The Uniate clergy received not only real rights, but also a monthly payment from the religious fund. He had real access to higher education in Lvov, Vienna, Innsbruck and Rome. A Greek Catholic seminary was founded in Lvov, which guaranteed theological students full financial support and made it possible for capable poor youth to receive an education.
The introduction of the union caused the awakening of Ukrainian national consciousness. Soon, under the pressure of circumstances, representatives of the Greek Catholic clergy came to the conclusion that their church should become one of the forces that would counteract the denationalization and polonization of the Ukrainian people. The Polish authorities very soon became convinced that “the union was not beneficial to them” because it did not live up to the hopes placed on it, and they began to persecute the Uniates. They tried to Latinize and Polonize Uniate schools, but at the first opportunity these schools were Ukrainized again, became centers of Ukrainian spirituality, and contributed to the preservation of the Ukrainian language.
At the end of the 18th century. The Greek Catholic Church consisted of four dioceses: Brest, Vienna, Polotsk and Lutsk. It was led by a Roman Catholic board represented by a special department. Its member was Archpriest I. Semashko (later Bishop of Lithuania and Brest), who became one of the outstanding figures in the unification of Western Ukrainian Uniates. In March 1838 he was appointed chairman of the Greek-Uniate College. Back in December 1837, he submitted a note on the need to reunite the Uniate Church with the Russian Orthodox Church. As a result of his activities, the Greek-Uniate Collegium in 1839 came under the jurisdiction of the Holy Synod, receiving the name Belarusian-Lithuanian. I. Semashko became its chairman and was ordained archbishop.
On March 3, 1839, the Western Ukrainian Uniates reunited with the Orthodox Church in the synodal church. This was the finale of the Union of Brest in Belarus, Lithuania, Volyn and Podolia. And in 1875, the Kholm diocese became part of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Union of Brest remained only in Galicia. Here it spread at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century. Subsequently, monastic monasteries in Galicia were equipped according to the Catholic model. Galicia was filled with Polish monks, who brought with them Catholic customs and Polonization.
The movement for the purification of liturgical rites from Latin accretions began in the wake of the national revival in Galicia in the mid-19th century. under the influence of the “Russian Trinity”, the revolutionary events of 1848, but it did not have any significant significance. At the Lvov Synod (in 1891), all Uniate changes in worship were approved, and an attempt was made, contrary to all papal promises, to legalize the celibacy of the Uniate clergy.
Second Polish occupation of Galicia in 1919-1939. It increased political and economic pressure on the Ukrainian population: the liquidation of schools, the provision of work only to those who handed over their baptismal certificate to the church, etc. Representatives of the Uniate clergy and the Greek Catholic Church were also persecuted.
According to the Treaty of Riga of 1921, Poland received, in addition to Galicia, large expanses of Western Ukrainian lands with an Orthodox population of almost 4 million people (1,200 dioceses). Under such circumstances, a rapprochement between Greek Catholics and Orthodox Christians could occur, both on religious and national liberation grounds. Therefore, the Polish authorities launched an attack on both churches. First, the Orthodox of Poland were excommunicated from the Moscow Patriarchate by granting the Orthodox Church autocephalous status, recognized by the Patriarch of Constantinople. At the same time, the destruction of Orthodox churches began: 400 were closed, 140 were destroyed.
The next action, which was supposed to block a possible union of Orthodox and Greek Catholics, was the Pinsk Union - annual meetings of the Jesuits after 1921, where the process of converting the Orthodox of Western Ukraine and Western Belarus to the Catholic faith was discussed. The spiritual and temporal rulers of Poland, taking into account the experience of the Union of Brest, even in words did not allow a direct union of the Orthodox Church with Rome, which would formally put the Greek Catholic Church on an equal position before Rome with the Polish church. They also categorically opposed the preservation of the Eastern rite, which allowed the Greek Catholics to largely preserve their identity.
The Greek Catholic Church prevented the Polish chauvinists from pursuing great power policies, and therefore attacks on it did not stop. This is also evidenced by the materials of the Lviv Cathedral: “With the action of destroying the Orthodox Church, there was simultaneously an action in Poland to weaken and destroy the Greek Catholic Church.” There was also a list of prohibited books, which included more than 100 titles of works of Ukrainian, Russian and world classics, among the authors were E. Grebenka, O. Kobylyanskaya, M. Kotsyubinsky, L. Martovich, Panas Mirny, Lesya Ukrainka, T. Shevchenko V. Korolenko, N. Leskov, L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov and others. However, despite the oppression, the church itself prepared its own clergy. The network of Ukrainian gymnasiums and publishing houses grew, and there was a long struggle against the Polonization of public education. New political, missionary, cultural and educational structures were restored, reformed and created.
Until 1946, in Western Ukraine there were 3 thousand Greek Catholic and 250 Orthodox parishes. But after the fascist occupation, especially after the Great Patriotic War, attacks on the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from the Soviet authorities intensified. She was accused of collaborating with the fascists and supporting the post-war rebel movement, in relations with the Vatican. The authorities were also irritated by the fact that they acted primarily as a national church.
After the death of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky (1944), repressions began, often ending in the exile of the Greek Catholic clergy, including the newly elected Metropolitan Joseph the Blind, to Siberia, and students of theological faculties were recruited into the army.
At the same time, under the influence of government authorities, the well-known priest Gabriel Kostelnik in Galicia organized a group of Greek Catholics who advocated a break with Rome. In March 1946, a synod was convened in Lvov (due to the absence of bishops, it was non-canonical), which made a pre-prepared decision to abolish the Union of Brest of 1596, a break with Rome and the “reunification” of the Greek Catholic Church with the Russian Orthodox Church. As a result, all Greek Catholic parishes were automatically declared Orthodox. In the early 50s, the Greek Catholic Church in Transcarpathia was destroyed.
Under pressure from the authorities, many priests were forced to convert to Orthodoxy; whoever did not agree ended up in Siberian casemates. But the Soviet government failed to completely eradicate the population’s adherence to the Greek Catholic faith. For four decades, the Greek Catholic Church in Western Ukrainian lands was in an illegal position, and its believers and clergy fully learned what constitutional freedom of conscience was worth at that time.
Beginning in 1987, the movement for the restoration of the Greek Catholic Church became organized. The Committee for the Defense of the Ukrainian Catholic Church was created and appealed to government authorities, foreign religious centers, in particular the Vatican, and international organizations, demanding recognition of the existing Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the western regions of Ukraine. On November 30, 1989, the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR made a statement on the registration of religious communities of Greek Catholics. From April to July 1991, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in general and individual church structures were registered as legal entities. The head of the church was Cardinal Miroslav Lyubacivsky, who until 1991. Was in Rome. After his death, the UGCC was headed by Cardinal Lubomir Huzar.
At the end of the 90s of the XX century. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church had 76 monasteries, 9 educational institutions, 11 bishops, 3 dioceses (Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Mukachevo, except Transcarpathia), more than 3 thousand dioceses, around which more than a million believers were united. Greek Catholic communities operate in almost all regions of Ukraine. The revival of Greek Catholic parishes was often accompanied by conflicts with the Orthodox over the right to use churches.
The structure of the traditional monastic orders of the Greek Catholic Church is being restored. Among them are male orders - Basilians, Redemptorists, Studites; women's - Basilians, Josaphatki, St. Vincent (Belgian), Holy Family, sister nun. They are called upon to carry out missionary activities among the population. Each of the orders has its own characteristics. For example, the nuns of the Order of St. Vikentiya mainly work as nurses and nannies; Yosafatki are engaged in the religious education of children; nuns of the Order of the Holy Family serve the sick and elderly; Redemptorists and Studites carry out missionary activities and train personnel for the church. There are seminaries with a total of about 600 seminarians. A publishing house, newspapers and magazines were founded.
Reviving the pre-war traditions of social service, the Greek Catholic Church resumed the activities of the People's Hospital named after. Andrei Sheptytsky, which the Metropolitan founded in 1903, took over the maintenance of the Greek Catholic Lyceum again in Lviv, where 240 students study.
An important role in the life of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was played by the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, which took place in May 1992. - The first after many decades, during which bishops from Ukraine and foreign communities developed a plan for the activities of the church in new conditions.
The main feature of religious life in Ukraine at the turn of the 2nd and 3rd millennia is the rapid growth of various confessions and cults. Their number reaches 100. The total number of religious communities in all faiths has increased from 10.8 thousand in 1991. Up to 19 thousand in 1998.
The struggle for leadership, believers, and property continues between Orthodox churches. At the beginning of the 21st century. The UOC MP had more than 6 thousand communities, the UOC KP - more than 1750, the UAOC - more than 600.
Ukrainians continue to remain a multi-confessional people. Active attempts by many of their representatives to create a unified national church have not yet brought success. Christian pluralism is establishing itself with great difficulty on Ukrainian territory. In many ways, it is hampered by the ideologization of church life, excessive rapprochement between the church and politics, and various external outpourings. And in the future, the problem of ecumenization (unification) of the Ukrainian Christian churches remains difficult. All this was observed to a certain extent during the visit in 2001. To Kyiv and Lviv of Pope John Paul II
Questions and tasks to consolidate knowledge
1. Analyze the common and distinctive features of ancient and Ukrainian mythology.
2. What political and spiritual factors contributed to the introduction of Christianity in Rus'? Why, in your opinion, was Rus' baptized according to the Eastern Christian rite?
3. Give arguments in favor of the fact that Vladimir, caring about the Christianization of Rus', intended to approve its Slavic version.
4. Why, in your opinion, did Kyiv at a certain point lose its status as the center of the Russian Orthodox Church?
5. Is the anathema to Ivan Mazepa an act of a fair assessment of his political activities or an outrage against the values of the Ukrainian people?
6. What caused the fact that active resistance to the Greek Catholic Church on Ukrainian lands over time grew into no less active support for it by a significant number of the Ukrainian population?
7. What are the arguments for and against the creation of a single local Orthodox Church in Ukraine based on? Is this problem at the crossroads of political interests? What is your opinion about him?
Abstract topics
1. Features of Ukrainian mythology.
2. The role of Christianization of Rus' in introducing it to European values and traditions.
3. Features of the formation of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
4. Historical experience and prospects for autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church.
5. Problems of Christian ecumenism in Ukraine.
Literature
Balagushkin M.N. Orthodoxy today. - M., 1990.
Bulgakov S. Orthodoxy. - M., 1991.
Vlasov V.G. Two thousand years of Christianity and its spread in Rus'. - M., 1992.
Dmitriev D.V. Orthodoxy and Reformation. - M., 1990.
Archpriest Znosko-Borovetsky M. Orthodoxy. Roman Catholicism. Protestantism. Sectarianism. - M., 1998..
The beginnings of Orthodoxy. - M., 1991.
Orthodoxy. Dictionary. - M., 1989.
Skurat K.V. History of local Orthodox churches. - 1, 2 vol. - M, 1994.
Old Believers. Experience Encyclopedic Dictionary. - M., 1996..
Subbotin Yu.K. Orthodox sacraments. - M., 1990.
Shleman A. The historical path of Orthodoxy. - M., 1990.
Jannars X. Faith of the Churches. Introduction to Orthodox Theology. - M., 1992.
Throughout the history of Christianity, relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches have experienced many difficult periods. However, after the union was proclaimed at the Council in Brest in 1596, these relations became especially acute between part of the Orthodox of the Kyiv Metropolis and the Catholic Church.
Even now, this relationship cannot be called ideal. And yet, in this note we will not talk about Catholic expansion on the territory of modern Ukraine, not about the seizure of our churches in the Western regions, not about proselytism (1), which has always been a distinctive feature of Western Christianity. We will talk about the endless lies that today have become a characteristic, distinctive feature of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, lies that have haunted this church throughout its short history (2).
The emergence of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the very conclusion of the Union of Brest, i.e. in fact, the birth of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church began with a lie. For those who do not know history very well, let us remind you that the very idea of union implied the restoration of Eucharistic communion between Orthodox and Catholics.
Alas, none of this happened. In fact, the petition of part of the Orthodox (including some hierarchs) of the Kiev Metropolis for communion in the Sacraments was accepted as a request for the admission of the Orthodox into the Roman Church: “Such an interpretation of the union did not allow either the autonomy of the Kiev Church as an independent metropolis, or the preservation of unity with the churches who are in schism with Rome" (3).
To achieve its goals, Rome willingly capitalized on the ignorance of that part of the common Orthodox people, whose representatives had little understanding of the intricacies of doctrine and simply did not notice the substitution, being satisfied that the ritual side of the Uniate Church was in many ways similar to Orthodoxy.
That is why Protopresbyter George (Metalionos), who is an ordinary professor of the history of theology at the University of Athens, described the Union of Brest as a method: “... which the feudal papacy used to subordinate Orthodoxy to Rome. The ingenious premise included in this method is the so-called preservation of freedom and continuity of Eastern traditions. It also serves as an alibi for instilling Western influence in the ex-Orthodox, since in this way their betrayal of their traditions and their people is covered up by their adherence to the external features of Orthodoxy... Metallinos concludes that Uniatism, and especially the Union of Brest, is a terrible phenomenon, it is a fifth column, a dangerous concept for Christian unity. According to Metallinos, true church unity can only be achieved when the papacy renounces its heresies, its totalitarian and false dogmas, and returns to Orthodoxy." (4)
The position of Greek Catholics in Ukraine today
The current position of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine is not much different from those distant times: “... the papacy is still trying to lure Orthodoxy into its net using Uniate methods” (5).
In this context, I recall the episode of the Shuster-LIVE program dated May 4, 2012, dedicated to the problem of the schism in Ukrainian Orthodoxy. Strange as it may seem, a representative of the UGCC was also present at the program. He spoke little and, most likely, active participation in the discussion was not part of his plans, but he still achieved the main thing, namely, his presence on a program dedicated to the problems of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, clearly demonstrated the fact that in the minds of ordinary (unchurched) Ukrainian citizens the UGCC is perceived exclusively as the real “Ukrainian Orthodox Church”. This was confirmed, at the very end of the program, by political scientist V. Karasev, who without a shadow of embarrassment called the UGCC “the true Ukrainian church”, on the basis of which only the unification of all Orthodox churches can occur. He, apparently, did not even understand that he said obvious stupidity, just as he did not understand that the very presence of representatives of the UGCC in the process of resolving the schism between the Orthodox in Ukraine is nonsense, absurd and can be explained solely as a provocation or outright forgery, i.e. To. having united on the basis of the Greek Catholic Church, we will automatically become Catholics and fall away from the fullness of Ecumenical Orthodoxy. True, they may object to us - they say that at the program the Greek Catholics were represented by an ordinary priest, i.e. Not even a bishop, much less a head of the church, but the religious program of a public organization could be drawn up by people incompetent in theological issues and issues of interfaith dialogue. However, very often the actions of the top leadership of the UGCC only confirm the assessments made above.
For example, the head of the UGCC Svyatoslav (Shevchuk), in his addresses regarding the celebration of the Baptism of Rus', repeatedly stated that this is their holiday too, because The schism between the Eastern and Western churches arose after the baptism of Kievan Rus. Strange, but for some reason he stubbornly does not remember (or does not want to remember) that the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir rejected the offer of Western missionaries and accepted baptism from Byzantium. Moreover, the Grand Duke accepted not just the ritual side of Orthodoxy, but was imbued with an Orthodox, patristic and therefore true understanding of the Gospel and Christianity in general.
Of course, it may also happen that our Greek Catholics do not know history well, but by 988 (i.e., by the time of the Baptism of Rus'), in the absence of a formal division, the Christian West and the Christian East had already diverged significantly in the field of soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) and ecclesiology (teachings about the Church of Christ). And later this division, as they say, only gained momentum.
About split and unity
Likewise, the reaction of the leadership of the UGCC to the appeal of the schismatic M.A. looks absolutely incomprehensible. Denisenko (better known as “Patriarch” Filaret) regarding the recognition of the validity of the Sacrament of Baptism in the schismatic “Kiev Patriarchate”. The fact is that for anyone who has the slightest understanding of Orthodox doctrine, the fact of the invalidity of church sacraments in schismatic and heretical communities. That is why Filaret (Denisenko) did not receive support from any canonical Orthodox church. But for some reason the head of the UGCC hastened to confirm the supposed “effectiveness” of schismatic “baptism.” However, later, after a harsh reaction from the Moscow Patriarchate, he was called to the carpet at the Vatican, after which he declared that the only canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, headed by Metropolitan Onuphry. And yet, the very “concern” with the problems of Ukrainian Orthodoxy cannot but cause surprise and bewilderment.
“Lies in salvation” and many questions for the Uniates
However, when it comes to the activities of the UGCC in Ukraine, bewilderment is almost the only feeling that arises in the soul of every Orthodox person. And indeed, summarizing all of the above, I would like to ask our Greek Catholic brothers several key and unambiguous questions:
- How long will the Greek Catholics hide the truth from the population of Ukraine and openly, through the media, announce to the Ukrainian people that they have nothing to do with the Orthodox Church?
- They will announce that, in essence, the UGCC is a Catholic Church that fully accepts the Catholic dogma with all its distinctive features (be it “papal primacy”, or Catholic Mariology, or legal soteriology, etc.).
- They will announce that the head of their church is none other than the Pope, and that they are not an independent (autonomous) Ukrainian church, but are directly subordinate to their head and are under the direct control of the foreign state of the Vatican, the head of which is the Pope.
- They will announce that they have nothing to do with the fact of the Baptism of Rus', for the simple reason that the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir rejected the offer of Western missionaries and accepted baptism from Orthodox Byzantium.
- They will honestly say that the very idea of a union between Orthodox and Catholics is an idea that does not contribute to dialogue between the Eastern and Western Christian churches: “Uniatism is an inappropriate method of seeking unity, since it contradicts the general tradition of our churches. This is stated in the article of the 2nd Balamand Declaration of the Mixed Orthodox-Catholic Commission on Theological Dialogue” (6).
In my opinion, this would be fair both in relation to our Orthodox brothers and in relation to the entire people of Ukraine. After all, what are they afraid of? That people will find out the truth? But shouldn’t the desire for truth guide a Christian? Maybe the time has come to tell people the truth and stop hiding behind Orthodox vestments and rituals? And if it hasn’t come yet, then why? Or maybe our Greek Catholics profess the so-called concept of “white lies”?
I confess that it is difficult for me to find answers to these questions. It is difficult to understand why people who call themselves Christians do this. But I know for sure that this is what scammers do. It is scammers who, in order to deceive people, pretend to be someone they really are not. It is the scammers who hide their true goals and use lies, i.e. It is the scammers, posing as (in the case of Greek Catholics, Orthodox rites) an honest person, who actually use illegal methods in their activities.
It is hard to believe that our Greek Catholic brothers use the methods of scammers. And yet, until they are open about who they really are, we are unlikely to trust them.