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Nasza Przeszłość

Vol. 71 (1989): Our Past

Articles

The dissolution of the Uniate diocese of Chełm and attempts to restore it

  • Roman Grabowski
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.1989.71.255-309  [Google Scholar]
Published: 1989-06-30

Abstract

In 1596, a union was concluded in Brest-Litovsk between the Orthodox and Catholic churches. The united church thus established covered the eastern areas of the Polish-Lithuanian state and a smaller area on the left bank of the Bug, which created the united bishopric of Chełm. Until the end of the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian state, the united Church developed successfully, despite many difficulties. The situation changed after the partitions of this country, when the Russian authorities began persecuting the Uniate Church (also known as the Greek Catholic Church). The final abolition of the union in the areas incorporated into Russia took place in 1839. Apart from the three united bishoprics in the areas transferred to Austria, only the bishopric of Chełm remained in the so-called Kingdom of Poland. This too was dissolved in 1875 and the followers were forcibly converted to Orthodox Christianity. Their resistance to this continued until the Toleration Decree of 1905, after approximately two hundred thousand evil deeds were converted to the Roman Catholic rite. This transition to the Roman Catholic Church worried the leaders of the Ukrainian national movement in Galicia, and in particular Metropolitan A. Scheptytsky. It could be expected that former Uniates would be exposed to complete Polonization due to their membership in the Polish Church. Therefore, already in 1905, the metropolitan carried out the restitution of the united Chełm diocese, which was to prevent the ongoing process of Polonization there through its Eastern rite. These efforts only intensified during the First World War, but were unsuccessful until 1918. After the Treaty of Brest, under which the Chełm lands were transferred to the newly established Ukrainian state, Scheptycki decided to finally solve this problem: on April 2, 1918, he restored the Chełm diocese and appointed J. Bocian as the bishop of Lutsk. At the same time, he sought the support of the Viennese government. This uncanonical move, as it turned out, met with resistance from the Austrian authorities and Polish bishops. The Polish-Ukrainian dispute soon moved from Vienna to Rome, where the Poles managed to annul the enthronement of J. Bocian as bishop of Lutsk.

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