UKRAINE: Emerging from the Catacombs

During Polish and Austrian rule in western Ukraine from the 17^th to the 20^th centuries, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church had great authority among the Ukrainian people. Consequently, after the Soviet occupation Stalin acted quickly to abolish the Church. On 11 April 1945, Metropolitan Josyf Slipiy and the rest of the hierarchy were arrested. Most of the bishops subsequently died in captivity.

After failing to force any of the bishops to renounce their communion with Rome, the Soviet authorities convened an assembly of 216 priests at gunpoint. On 9 and 10 March 1946, the so-called "Synod of Lviv" was held in St. George's Cathedral (the spiritual heart of western Ukraine). The Union of Brest, the council at which the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church formally entered into ecclesial communion with the Holy See, was revoked. The Church was forcibly "rejoined" to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Hundreds of priests, together with monks, nuns and lay faithful were arrested and deported to labor camps, in many cases with their wives and small children. Between 1946 and 1989 the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was the largest banned Church in the world. It was at the same time the largest structure of social opposition to the Soviet system within the USSR. Despite relentless persecution, church life continued underground through the work of an elaborate system of clandestine seminaries, monasteries, ministries, parishes and youth groups until the Church was legalized on 1 December 1989.

Most of the underground history of the Church was not known to the public during Soviet times. But Lviv's Institute of Church History, was created in 1991 to record this history for future generations. The Institute conducts interviews with survivors of the underground church and tells their stories to the world. Their archives contain more than 1000 interviews with participants in Ukraine's former underground church.

http://www.ukraineinfo.us/about/history.html

However, soon the Lithuanian-Catholic element began dominating within the state. Naturally, this called for certain resistance on the part of the home aristocracy. A whole number of revolts took place in the terrain of Ukrainian lands in the late 15th to early 16th centuries. Princes I. Olshanskyi, M. Olelkovych, F. Biliskyi (1481), and M. Glynskyi (1508) took part in these rebellions.
Cossacks
The first written mention of Cossacks appeared in the late 15th century. The appearance of Cossacks played an outstanding part in the historical fate of Ukraine. Cossacks represented a social standing of free people who defended their land and guarded its boundaries against Turkey-Tatar aggression.
In the middle of the 16th century the Cossacks created their own military-political organization: Zaporizhian Sich. It had the original military-administrative system based on the principles of Cossack democracy. The Cossacks founded specific political institutions such as: institutions of military councils, the Zaporizhian Army Kish as the higher executive-legislative organs, and their own legal proceedings.
The Cossacks were a rather b and numerous organization. K. Kosynskyi and S. Nalyvaiko led the Cossacks in the first great revolts. They took fortresses, liberated towns and villages, and their law became firmly established in the Kyiv, Volyn and Bratslav provinces. Among other great Cossack leaders were Taras Fedorovych, Pavlo But, Yakiv Ostrainyn, Dmytro Hunia.
In 1633 the Polish government, influenced by the revolts, legalized the existence of the Orthodox Church (of which Petro Mohyla was the Metropolitan), and in 1638 the Warsaw courts abolished the Cossacks' privileges which were previously conquered. Among these Cossack privileges were a legislation of their own, the appointment of officers by election, and the limitation of register.
The defeats of the Cossack rebellions of the 16th to early 17th century made the grave position of Ukrainians worse. Cossack leaders, as well as thousands of rebellious Cossacks and peasants, were annihilated and lands were redistributed. The "gold tranquillity" which prevailed in the early part of the 17th century proved the tranquillity only for Polish magnates and squires who had not obtained lessons from the events of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Gradual accumulation of force before the decisive conflict with the powerful state machine of Rich Pospolyta took place in Ukrainian society.

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9074132
Ukrainian Catholic church

Encyclopædia Britannica Article

largest of the Eastern Catholic churches, in communion with Rome since the Union of Brest-Litovsk (1596). Byzantine Christianity was established among the Ukrainians in 988 by St. Vladimir (Volodimir) and followed Constantinople in the Great Schism of 1054. Temporary reunion with Rome was effected in the mid-15th century, and a definitive union was achieved at Brest-Litovsk in 1596, when Metropolitan Michael Ragoza of Kiev and the bishops of Vladimir, Lutsk, Polotsk, Pinsk, and Kholm agreed to join the Roman communion, on condition that their traditional rites be preserved intact. The Orthodox did not accept the union peaceably; and the bishops of Lvov (Lviv) and Przemysl, as well as the Orthodox Zaporozhian Cossacks, opposed the Catholics. In 1633 the metropolitanate of Kiev returned to Orthodoxy, while Lvov joined the union in 1677, followed by Przemysl in 1692.

http://www.belarusguide.com/culture1/religion/BAOC.html

The Roman Church, unable to gain the adherence of the Orthodox faithful, forced the government to pressure Metropolitan Ryhor to attend a Roman Council in Konstanz in 1418. At this council an attempt was made to unite the Orthodox Church of Lithuania with Rome. The Metropolitan refused and was forced to resign upon his return to Lithuania. These intrusions did not pass unnoticed by the growing power to the east, Moscow, which began to assert itself as the sponsor and defender of Orthodoxy in Lithuania and throughout eastern Europe.

Meanwhile, in 1448, a meeting of bishops in Moscow elected its bishop Iona to be "Metropolitan of Moscow" without Patriarchal approval. The siege and subsequent fall of Constantinople in 1453 prevented the Patriarch from responding.

Pressure on Orthodox hierarchs by the Poles and Roman Church authorities continued unabated. King Kasimir of Poland, in 1481, forbade building or even repair of Orthodox churches in the Polish-Lithuanian state. The Polish kings granted Orthodox churches, monasteries and Church property to Catholic lay people and nobility.

Meanwhile, to the east, the Muscovites in 1514 occupied Smalensk and in 1513, following the Livonian War, occupied Polatsk, both of which where principal cities of the Lithuanian nation.

Poland took advantage of Lithuania's weakened position to annex the province of Padlassa and the Ukrainian possessions of Lithuania. Seeing themselves under attack from both sides Lithuania had no choice but to agree to the Union of Lyublin with Poland in 1569. Though the Union formally ended the independence of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy remained a separate entity within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and defended and preserved its autonomy to the end.

1596-1839: In Partial Union with Rome

Pressure on the Orthodox hierarchy of Lithuania for union with Rome rose dramatically following the Union of Lublin. With the establishment of the Patriarchate in Moscow in 1589, and the expected new pressure from Moscow, the Union of Bierascie(Brest Litovsk) was forged in October 1596 which created the Uniate church. The Union was expected to raise the social status of the Orthodox, but since most of the upper class had already become fully polonized and Roman Catholic, the anticipated reprieve was not realized for even the Uniate church was prosecuted and proselitized by fanatic Latin-rite Catholics under the leadership of Jesuits.

In 1620, Patriarch Theophan of Jerusalem restored an Orthodox hierarchy for Lithuania and Ukraine. Seeking a moderation in the terror against the Orthodox populace in order to gain support for his war with Moscow, Polish king Wladyslaw IV issued the "Points of Contentment" in 1632, which recognized the rights of those who remained Orthodox. Because it was considered harmful to Catholicism, Pope Urban VIII urged its rejection by Latin and Uniate Catholics alike, and the oppression continued unabated.

The Treaty of Pereyaslav in 1654, between Moscow and the Ukrainian Cossacks, gave Moscow the opening required to begin its march into Lithuania and Ukraine as anti-Orthodox persecution raged out of control in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Belarusian language was outlawed in public life. Those who converted from Catholicism could receive the death penalty; non-Catholics were not permitted to serve in the legislature, courts or any other official commission or committee. Spokesmen for non-Catholics were considered enemies of the state.

The Polish Seim (parliament) forbade the Orthodox to be in contact with the Patriarch of Constantinople forcing them to look for Moscow. The primary effect of the Union of Lublin and its resultant massive persecution of the Orthodox in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was to encourage Moscow to undertake its mission of imperialism under the pretext of defending Orthodoxy.

In 1886, the Muscovite Church has formally annexed the Ukrainian and Lithuanian Churches with payment of 120 saber furs and 200 pieces of gold to the Patriarch of Constantinople, Dionisios IV, who was deprived of his office for this un-canonical transfer. Though the annexation was annulled, political realities prevented any further action from being taken.

At the end of the 18th century, faced with extinction, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth began a series of internal reforms aimed at diminishing religious and social oppression, along with making improvements in economic and military spheres.

Following the passage of these somewhat more liberal laws by the parliament, a General Council of the Orthodox Church of Lithuania assembled in the city of Pinsk on June 15, 1791 and re-established the independent Orthodox Metropolitanate of Lithuania. But this re-establishment was to be short-lived.

The partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in three phases from 1772-1795 by Russia, Prussia, and Austria put an end to the historical Grand Duchy of Lithuania and also to the native Orthodox Church of Lithuania. The Church ceased to exist not on the basis of Canon Law, but only by reason of physical force.

http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/vatican_russia.aspx

Though the Vatican had no real army to speak of, it made up for it by an abundance of influential, secret advisors and agents, a whole army of clerics scattered throughout the world. To substantiate this, we quote the words of the Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Sibor, which were pronounced at the start of the Crimean War, "It is a sacred deed, a God-pleasing deed, to ward off the Photian heresy [Orthodoxy], subjugate it and destroy it with a new crusade. This is the clear goal of today's crusade. Such was the goal of all the crusades, even if all their participants were not fully aware of it. The war which France is now preparing to wage against Russia is not a political war but a holy war. It is not a war between two governments or between two peoples, but is precisely a religious war, and other reasons presented are only pretexts."

The first thing I have to say is this show is 99% propaganda.

The second is that it tries to tie all the soviet actions to being Orthodox Church actions, it mentions soviet maybe 10% of the time and Russian Orthodox the remainder. [this during a time after the Patriarch had been killed by soviets and told the American church to fend for itself until a time communication was feasible].

The narrator says the soviets forced a union between the Orthodox and Catholics which was unprecedented. The Union of brest and subsequent polish law united forcefully the Orthodox and Catholics.

It also mentions the soviets deported Poles. Why were poles in Ukraine? Because the Poles invaed Ukraine prior to the 1596 union of Brest.

It labels all who cooperated with the soviet 'show union' of the Greek Catholics and Orthodox as 'turncoats' completely denying the possibility that there may have been many Greek Catholics who knew full well their ancestors were Orthodox and were thus sympathetic for the Orthodox church and unopposed to this union.

It mentions that all Catholic property was transfered to the Orthodox Russian church. I beg to know what Orthodox properties were transfered back from the 1596 union of Brest, when all Orthodox Properties became Catholic Properties, to being orthodox properties post 1633; few if any.

It shows an old woman hiding an ikon. Millions of orthodox lived like this throughout the USSR with Orthodox Churches being turned into store houses or torn down. The narrator even mentions Orthodox churches were also closed during this time.

It says many underground faithful followed the faith of their fathers, but I must ask how many of their great great great great grandfathers were Orthodox before the Union of Brest forced them into Greek Catholic Parishs?

The translations are always half-on. They never translate militia (police) the randomly translate litrugia as mass or liturgy.

They show one girl in curiously bright traditional village girl clothes, the likes of which are HARDLY common in Ukraine, and most likely staged for the show.

They show folks proesting for the right to open greek churches saying 5 million greek Catholics are underground in Ukraine, yet even today when it's completely legal there are less than 3 million, and only thousands turned out when it was first legalized.

The program continually highlights 'years of opression' the soviets ruled for 70 years, but the Lithuanians and Poles ruled Ukraine for hundreds, even then ukraine was being handed back and forth between a slew of non-Orthodox nations. Orthodox Christians were continually underground and opressed.

Finally it speaks of spiritual renewal as if it is unique to the 6% Catholic population.

This entire presentation is designed to hold the Russian Orthodox responsible for the actions of the athist soviet state which simulataneously opressed the Orthodox church. Further it is designed to convey that the average Ukranian is Catholic, I actually know a Ukranian immigrant who lived on the border and worked between Ukraine and Poland and she is happily Orthodox as is her Son, still living in Ukraine, and hardly feels opressed.

Finally I must ask what sort of folks put this together in light of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedicts continual promises of DEescalation of proseylitizing and conflict in East Europe. This program is a blatent attempt to insist Ukraine is a strong long Catholic nation gunned down in it's prime by the Soviets and completely black out Ukraine's rich Orthodox heritage.

It is actions like this that continue to separate the Catholic and Orthodox church and the producers of this program should be ashamed.

Finally I would add that all Catholics and Orthodox should watch this to understand perfectly the situation of the church under sovietism; and the greater message of it all. The soviets tried to kill the church. As the program notes Cruzchev declared in 10 years only one Christian would remain and his death would mark the disappearance of Christianity in the Soviet Union.

It's been decades since then and Sovietism is a curious footnote in history, and a short lived footnote in history. The soviets tried to make a religion out of man and failed. The church flourishes in the ruins of their experiment; and that is something which OUGHT to unite Catholic and Orthodox alike.

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