The Role of the Holy See (Vatican) in Legalizing the Greek Catholic Church: The Historiographic Aspect

The article shows the involvement of the Vatican in the process of legalizing the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The classification of research shows the evolution of their development. The author notes that the illegal existence of the Greek Catholic Church in the Soviet Union was marked by a series of events and phenomena. They are classified in two categories. First – the tireless struggle of the clergy and the faith for family live, and second – a systematic struggle for the legalization of church. For the latter, the Ukrainian Greek Catholics wanted to engage the Vatican administration.In characterizing the historiographical base and relying on a wide range of research, the autor tries to show the changes in estimating Vatican’s involvement in resolving the crisis of the church in the Western regions of the Ukrainian SSR in the 1950’s – 1980’s. Thus, a large historiographical base reveals a wide range of opinions that reflects the participation of the various representatives of Vatican and of its administration in lobbying the legalization of the UGCC. This approach is related to the necessity of a critical reflection of the Soviet-Vatican relations in the late twentieth century, that of the impact Vatican on the revival of church life in the Soviet Union as a whole. As a conclusion, the article presents a view on a change in the Vatican’s Eastern policy during the late 1950s – 1980s. It shows different factors that affected the process. Special attention is given to those driwing the attention of the papal curia on the Ukrainian issues. These include the Second Vatican Council, the Metropolitan J. Slipyy’s release from prison, the emergence of information about the mass crimes of the Soviet government, the pontificate of John Paul II etc.