A conference titled “The 1946 Pseudo-Council: 80 Years Later – Persecution Continues” was held in Washington, dedicated to one of the most painful chapters in the modern history of the Church – the forced “reunification” of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church with the Russian Orthodox Church in 1946. As well as to modern manifestations of similar repressions in the context of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
This was reported by the organizers of the event – the Center for Ukrainian Church Studies at the Catholic University of America, the Ukrainian Catholic University, and the St. Gabriel Institute.
The two-day event took place at the Catholic University of America in Mellon Hall on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Lviv Pseudo-Council. An additional student panel discussion was also held the day before, on March 25.
The conference brought together international scholars, religious leaders, and politicians to discuss historical memory, religious freedom, and documented cases of persecution of clergy and religious communities in the occupied Ukrainian territories.
It is also noted that special guests of the event included the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, and Archbishop Borys Gudziak, Metropolitan Archbishop of Philadelphia and President of the Ukrainian Catholic University.
Thus, Father Sviatoslav Shevchuk addressed the participants of the event with a welcoming speech online. At the beginning of his speech, the Primate of the UGCC thanked the organizers of the event and emphasized that with the opening of archives and the processing of new documents, the true nature of the events of 1946 is becoming increasingly clear. According to him, the so-called “council” was not a church event, but a special operation of the Stalinist regime aimed at the liquidation of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the Soviet Union. The persecution of the Church, according to His Beatitude Sviatoslav, continues today in the territories occupied by Russia.
“Nothing has changed now. Every time Russia occupies some part of the territory of Ukraine, our Church is banned and destroyed. Our priests, our nuns, our monasteries are closed. Our priests are imprisoned, tortured or exiled. Therefore, this project of restoring the Soviet Union, which the Russian president is trying to implement, means a return to the catacombs for us.”
According to the organizers, four thematic panels were held within the framework of the conference. Participants discussed the Lviv Pseudo-Council and the Underground Church, the influence of the Moscow Patriarchate and the concept of the “Russian world”, the religious dimension of war and moral responsibility for peace, as well as Russian religious persecution in Ukraine – both in the past and today.
Separately, the event program included a Divine Liturgy led by Metropolitan Borys Gudziak at the National Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Borys Gudziak also emphasized the spiritual significance of Lent in times of war.
In addition, the final part of the conference featured a roundtable discussion with the participation of international experts, diplomats and church figures.
The conference also saw the presentation of the Blessed Omelyan Kovch Award from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to George Weigel.
According to the organizers, the conference participants included, in particular, Denys Seynik, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Ukraine, George Weigel, Catholic theologian and senior analyst of the Vatican, Anatoliy Babynskyi, senior lecturer and researcher, Institute of Church History, Ukrainian Catholic University, Oleh Turiy, Vice-Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University; expert in Church history, Dmytro Vovk, lawyer and expert on religious freedom, Andriy Kohut, Director of the Sumy State University Archive (Ukraine), Maksym Vasin, Institute of Religious Freedom (Ukraine) and others.
Photo: ugcc.ua
Author: Inna Mikhno