UKRAINIZATION OF ORTHODOXY IN VOLYN IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD

Abstract

The article examines the process of Ukrainization of Orthodox church life in Volyn during the interwar period, when the Ukrainian lands were part of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The political and socio-religious context that influenced the formation of the national-church movement is analyzed, in particular, the policy of the Polish state towards non-Polish peoples, in particular Ukrainians, and its impact on Orthodox communities. The contradictory position of the state is considered, which simultaneously promoted the de-Russification of church life as a means of Polonization of the population, but at the same time limited the processes of Ukrainization and consolidation of Ukrainian national-patriotic forces.
An important role in the revival of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Poland was played by church congresses, which became one of the decisive factors in the awakening of the national-church movement in Volyn. Their main achievement was the spread among the Ukrainian population of the awareness of the need to fight for their native Church and the Ukrainian language of worship.
The article pays special attention to the activities of the conscious clergy and local Ukrainian intelligentsia, who played a key role in the introduction of the Ukrainian language in worship, the formation of a national identity and the development of church-national self-awareness. The activities of such prominent figures as Metropolitan Polycarp (Sikorsky), Archbishop Oleksiy (Hromadsky), Stepan Skrypnyk, Arsen Richynsky and others are analyzed, whose activity contributed to the rise of Ukrainian Orthodoxy, the creation of educational centers and the implementation of reforms aimed at the de-Russification and Ukrainization of the Church. The model that Ukrainian public and church figures of Volyn tried to implement was that the Church should be Ukrainian in its national character, independent of the state, and its structure should be conciliar, which would guarantee broad participation of the laity in governance.
The author concludes that the Ukrainization of Orthodoxy in Volhynia in the 1920s and 1930s was a powerful manifestation of the national self-awareness of the Ukrainian population, closely linked to the national liberation movement. The process of Ukrainization of the Orthodox church system contributed to the consolidation of Ukrainians, the affirmation of national identity, the development of educational initiatives and the preparation of the ground for the revival of the autocephalous Ukrainian Church.