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Ukraiński Kościół Greckokatolicki wobec konfliktu polsko-ukraińskiego w latach 1939–1946

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Pojizdnyk I., Buczyło M.

Pamięć i Sprawiedliwość

2007

issue 1(11)

145-176

A complicated perspective of mutual relationship of Greek Catholic Church and nationalistic movement in the period of the Second World War was an important factor of international relationships. The problem mentioned above is difficult to examine not only because of existence of various stereotypes, but also because it is diffi cult to establish unambiguous attitude of Greek Catholic Church towards anti-Polish activities and Ukrainian underground. Nevertheless, the difference of attitudes of Greek Catholic Church as a structural unit hit the eye, that is the difference between the offi cial attitude shown by the bishops and the attitude of common clergymen, which also was not unambiguous. The attitude of the majority of church hierarchy towards Polish-Ukrainian conflict was constructive and aimed at communicating. Activities of Greek Catholic Church in that fi eld sometimes led to tension in contacts between Ukrainian church authorities and Ukrainian underground (SS „Halychyna”, pastoral epistles against murders of Poles and Ukrainians etc.), but they allowed for softening a harsh ethnic and religious conflict. It must be admitted though, that this influence was limited and the main role was played by secular factors. The urgent need to fi nd solutions to various, sometimes very complicated, dilemma forced a Greek Catholic priest to form his point of view on events and phenomena of the time on the basis of his own world view. Greek Catholic clergymen represented the educated layer of the society, and in some cases they were the only representatives of Ukrainian intellectuals in the country, influencing the shape of national identity of the Ukrainians. Their authority among the Ukrainian people could be envied by many political powers. That is why Ukrainian underground controlled Greek Catholic clergy and sometimes took appropriate measures against priests who defended Poles. It is also worth to mention that evolution of relationships between Greek Catholic Church and nationalistic underground was strongly infl uenced by first German, and then Soviet policy. During the Second World War these relationships were transformed according to the historical reality of life. These relationships made the diffi cult way from negating the need of existence of radical nationalistic movement to being aware in the last years of the war that the underground became the only hope for the future.

Kościół katolicki a Cerkiew greckokatolicka w USRR po II wojnie światowej – droga do współpracy

100%

Pojizdnyk I.

Pamięć i Sprawiedliwość

2010

issue 1(15)

299-307

Local leaderships in Poland significantly affected the consequences of the open conflict between Rome and Moscow in new political conditions. Anti-catholic actions carried out by communist authorities resulted in reaching an agreement between the Soviet government and the Polish Committee of National Liberation (Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego). It concerned a displacement of Ukrainian citizens from the Polish territory as well as of Poles from the USSR. Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic hierarchs negatively referred to the Polish-Ukrainian settlement. The vast majority of Polish society decided not to leave their homes. That decision was attributed to the significant influence of Roman Catholic clergy they had on Polish worshippers. Communist authorities, with all possible methods of persuasion (extortion, deportations and arrests), tried to use that influence in order to accelerate the process of displacement. At the request of Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak the authorities of the Greek Catholic Church officially expressed their opposition against such actions taken by the government. Soviet officers not only put the clergy and worshippers under intense pressure but also used permanently existing Polish-Ukrainian conflicts to achieve their goals (distributing threatening leaflets with UPA signature, resettling Ukrainian citizens in areas yet uninhabited by Poles, etc.). The clergy of both Churches – Greek and Catholic – took an effort to prevent the worshippers in their parishes from creating tension between them. Polish parsons kept on Greek Catholic rectories their liturgical vestments, parish registers and another pieces of church property. Due to the fact that Polish clergy had friendly relations with Greek Catholic parsons, Polish priests used to give them the keys to their churches before being displaced. During the action of liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church the Soviet authorities extensively used the Russian Orthodox Church to erupt a dispute inside the Greek Catholic environment. Between 1944 and 1946 both Greek Catholic priests and laymen were required not only to declare their personal attitude to church (in general) but also their religious affiliation. It was caused by remarkable variety of opinions existing in Ukrainian society rich in many religious beliefs, family traditions etc. Moreover, that society was also deeply and constantly affected by the influence of the Ukrainian clergy, underground and it felt intense pressure from the authorities. In addition to this, the USSR leaderships took under consideration the possibility of carrying out a similar action against Roman Catholic Church. However, any attempt of taking such an action met with strong resistance of the clergy. The underground activities of the Greek Catholic Church only confirmed the lack of effectiveness of that kind of campaigns. After World War II, there was a new stage in relations between not only the Roman and Greek Catholic churches but also the Ukrainian and Polish societies. All conflicts and pretences between them, connected with political repressions, eventually ended and turned into a mutual cooperation and help. Despite existence of totalitarian regime, both Churches – Roman and Greek Catholic were allowed to preserve their religious identities.

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2 Pamięć i Sprawiedliwość

2 Pojizdnyk I.

1 Buczyło M.

1 2010

1 2007

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Ukraiński Kościół Greckokatolicki wobec konfliktu polsko-ukraińskiego w latach 1939–1946

Kościół katolicki a Cerkiew greckokatolicka w USRR po II wojnie światowej – droga do współpracy