Development of the Greek Catholic Church in Independent Ukraine: Persons, Historical Heritage, and New Trends

Authors

Mykhailo Kobryn, Lviv National Literary-Memorial Museum of Ivan FrankoFollow
Olena Lyovkina, University of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, Irpin, UkraineFollow
Hennadii Khrystokin, University of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine, Irpin, UkraineFollow

Abstract

The article analyzes historical features and tendencies of the development of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (the UGCC) in the period of independence of Ukraine. It considers the prerequisites in which this church has begun its revival in the early 1990s after the official ban on church activity in the Soviet Union. Three stages of the development of the UGCC have been identified which correspond to the times of the various church leaders’ management. The first stage in the development of Greek Catholics corresponds to the time when the community was governed by Ivan-Myroslav Lyubachivsky. The main tasks of that phase was to restore and establish the functioning of this religious community in the traditional regions of their activity until the Soviet period. The second stage fell on Lyubomyr Husar’s chairmanship in the UGCC. The main purpose of that period was to bring the church to the all-Ukrainian level, and the main achievement became the transfer of the church management center from Lviv to Kyiv. Moreover, that stage was marked by a number of small splits within the church. The activity of such central groups as “kovpakivtsi” and “dognalivtsi” was especially noticeable. The third stage began with Lyubomyr Husar’s voluntary retirement for health reasons and the election of a new head of the UGCC, Svyatoslav Shevchuk. The main challenge for a young church leader is to grow the community taking into account the challenges of globalization, as well as to preserve the Greek Catholic identity. One of the issues of differentiation within the Ukrainian Uniate Church is the activity of three identification groups in its environment that perform cultic and ritual practices in different ways. Namely, there are Oriental, Oxidental, and all-Catholic groups.

Recommended Citation

Kobryn, Mykhailo; Lyovkina, Olena; and Khrystokin, Hennadii (2020) "Development of the Greek Catholic Church in Independent Ukraine: Persons, Historical Heritage, and New Trends," Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 40 : Iss. 3 , Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol40/iss3/6