Western Ukrainian Clergy
Encyclopedia
The Western Ukrainian clergy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
were a hereditary tight-knit social caste that dominated western Ukrainian society from the late eighteenth until the mid twentieth centuries, following the reforms instituted by Joseph II, Emperor of Austria
. Because, like their Orthodox brethren, Ukrainian Catholic priests could marry, they were able to establish "priestly dynasties", often associated with specific regions, for many generations. Numbering approximately 2,000-2,500 by the 19th century, priestly families tended to marry within their group, constituting a tight-knit hereditary caste. In the absence of a significant native nobility, and enjoying a virtual monopoly on education and wealth within western Ukrainian society, the clergy came to form that group's native aristocracy. The clergy adopted Austria's role for them as bringers of culture and education to the Ukrainian countryside. Most Ukrainian social and political movements in Austrian-controlled territory emerged or were highly influenced by the clergy themselves or by their children. This influence was so great that western Ukrainians were accused of wanting to create a theocracy in western Ukraine by their Polish rivals. . The central role played by the Ukrainian clergy or their children in western Ukrainian society would weaken somewhat at the end of the nineteenth century but would continue until The Soviet Union forcibly dissolved the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukrainian territories in the mid-twentieth century.
In 988 East Slavic
state of Kievan Rus'
was converted to the Eastern form of Christianity
at the behest of Vladimir I of Kiev
. Following the East-West Schism
between the Roman and Byzantine Churches, the form of Christianity that Kievan Rus followed became known (in English) as the Eastern Orthodox Church
. The westernmost part of Kieven Rus formed the independent Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which Poland conquered in 1349. Over the following centuries, most of the native nobility adopted the dominant Polish nationality and Roman Catholic religion. Thus, the local native society was composed principally of priests and peasants. In an attempt to limit Polish pressure, the Union of Brest
(1595/1596) saw the creation of the Uniate Church (later the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
) in the former parts of Kievan Rus under Polish rule. Like other Eastern Catholic Churches, the Uniate Church maintained the liturgical
, theological and devotional traditions, including married priesthood, of the Orthodox Church - despite its new allegiance to Rome.
. The Order was independent of the Greek Catholic hierarchy and continued to enjoy certain wealth and privileges which it did not share with the rest of the Church. In striking contrast, the large majority of Galician priests, although not serfs, were frequently forced to work for the Polish nobles and treated little better than peasants by them, and priests' sons who did not follow their fathers' vocation were often placed under the same feudal obligations as were hereditary serfs. Such circumstances fostered a sense of solidarity and closeness between the priests and the peasants. There were cases of Ukrainian priests or their sons participating in or leading armed insurrections against Polish nobility. The situation changed when the region of Galicia was annexed by Austria in 1772.
Travelling the lands newly acquired from Poland in 1772
, Austrian emperor Joseph II decided that the Greek Catholic clergy would be ideal vehicles for bringing about enlightened reform among the Ukrainian population. With this in mind he undertook major reforms designed to increase the status and educational level of the Ukrainian clergy in order to enable them to play the role he assigned for them. The Greek Catholic Church and its clergy was raised in status in order to make it legally equal in all respects to its Roman Catholic counterpart. The previously independent Basilian Order was subordinated to the Greek Catholic hierarchy. Ukrainian Catholic priests were granted stipends by the Austrian government, liberating them economically from the Polish nobles who were now prevented by the Austrians from interfering with them. Ukrainian priests were also allotted larger tracts of land that further contributed to an improvement in their financial situation. Whereas previously the Ukrainian priests had typically been taught by their fathers (and their rudimentary education was largely limited to the Liturgy, basic knowledge of the Church Slavonic language, and basic literacy), the Austrians opened seminaries specifically for Ukrainian Catholic students in Vienna
(1774) and Lviv
(1783) that provided subsequent generations of priests with University-level education and a strong exposure to Western culture. The sons of priests who served in the bishop's administration were given the same rights to state offices as had the sons of nobles. As a result of the Austrian reforms of the late 18th century, the Ukrainian Catholic priests thus became the first large educated social class within the Ukrainian population in Galicia.
The Austrian reforms granting education, land, and government salaries set the stage for the clergy's dominant position in western Ukrainian society for several generations. Both significant Ukrainian social movements, that of the Russophiles
who sought to unite Ukraine with Russia and of the Ukrainianophiles, who supported Ukrainian independence, were dominated by members of the clergy. The Supreme Ruthenian Council which represented the Ukrainian people in dealing with the Austrian authorities, consisted primarily of clergy and met in the consistory of St. George's Cathedral
, the "mother church" of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. The first non-clerical secular intelligentsia to emerge among western Ukrainians (lawyers, writers, doctors) were typically the children of priests, which served to perpetuate clerical influence among western Ukrainians. Because priests served as the only conduit between the cities and the peasants of the villages, urban Ukrainian intellectuals seeking to reach the peasants were forced by circumstances to work through the priests. They thus tended to be deferential to them and sought to avoid antagonizing the clergy.
The situation changed somewhat by the late nineteenth century. The clergy's colossal efforts to educate the peasants resulted in the relative loss of priestly power. New members of the intelligentsia arose from the peasantry, some of whom objected to what they considered to be the priestly patronizing attitudes towards peasants as childlike or drunkards needing to be taught and led. Simultaneously, urban intellectuals no longer had to go through priests in order to spread their ideas among a newly literate peasantry. The Radical movement
appeared in Western Ukraine in the 1870s. Its political party
, founded in 1890, was explicitly anti-clerical and sought to limit the clergy's influence. The Radicals helped to spread discontent against the status quo by criticizing sacramental fees that were considered to be too high for the poor peasants, publicizing disputes over land rights between the Church and the peasantry, and attacking priests' authority on moral matters. Often having to wait until the priests had taught the peasants how to read, the Radicals took over many of the reading clubs that the priests had founded and turned them into sources of anti-clerical agitation. In the words of one church leader speaking about reading clubs, "instead of national love they have awakened in our peasant self-love and arrogance." The Radicals' anti-clerical efforts helped to curb the clergy's power. For example, father M. Sichynsy, who had been elected to the Galician Diet in 1883, lost an election to the Reichsrat in 1889 to a Polish candidate, count Borkowski in part because of conflicts between the priest and local peasants over land usage. While the clergy dominated the ethnic Ukrainian parliamentary delegations in the 1860's and 1870's, of the 28 Ukrainian members of Austria's parliament in 1909-1911 only four were clerics. Despite such changes, the largest and most popular western Ukrainian political party from the late nineteenth until through the mid twentieth century continued to be the Ukrainian National Democratic Party
, founded and led by the priest's son Kost Levytsky
., and the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Andrey Sheptytsky
, would be seen as a "father figure" for most western Ukrainians until his death in the 1940's.
Scholar Jean-Paul Himka has characterized the Galician clergy as having "an Orthodox face, Roman Catholic citizenship and an enlightened Austrian soul." This Austrianism manifested itself not only in loyalty to the Habsburg dynasty but also in following the role ascribed to them by the Austrian emperor as Enlighteners and educators of the Ukrainian community. Priests were heavily involved in spreading literacy in western Ukraine. The first West Ukrainian grammar of the Ukrainian language was published by a priest who also translated Goethe and Schiller into Ukrainian. Two thirds of the participants of a Congress of scholars called in 1848 to standardize the Ukrainian language and introduce educational reforms were members of the clergy. Priests actively supported the first Ukrainian newspaper, Zorya Halytska ("Galician Star"), either reading it aloud to illiterate peasants or having their cantors
do so. Between 1842 and 1856 approximately 1,000 parish schools were established in the Lviv eparchy. Of 43 Ukrainian-language books published in Galicia between 1837 and 1850, 40 were written by members of the clergy.
In 1831 seminarians were required by the head of the Church to take classes in agronomy
because they were expected to introduce modern farming methods to the peasants. Many priests used their lands as "model farms
," cultivating new varieties of grains or other plants. In one region, for example, priests planted the first apricot orchards. Some priests even taught agricultural methods from the pulpit.
Priests also founded temperance societies, reading clubs, and were significant figures in the Ukrainian cooperative movement
. As an example of priests' impact in one community, in the village of Lanivtsi in southern Galicia, the local priestly dynasty established the community's credit union, local reading club, and child-care facilities.
The role of the clergy had a profound impact on the Ukrainian national movement. In contrast to the Polish intelligentsia, which largely derived from the lower nobility, the western Ukrainian intelligentsia largely derived from the clergy. Studying in Vienna, Ukrainian seminarians came into contact with the West at the time when Romantic nationalism
and the virtues of the "People" had come to dominate modern thought in central Europe. The Ukrainian seminarians established contact with Czech students who were undertaking an extensive revival of their national culture
and came to imitate their efforts.
Most of the leaders of the Ukrainian Women's Union (Soyuz Ukrainok) were the wives and daughters of priests.
The historical background of the Galician clergy contributed to a strong hostility and rivalry towards Poles, as well as a fierce sense of loyalty to Austria and the Habsburg dynasty by most Galician clerics. These attitudes were transmitted to their parishioners and thus reflected in Ukrainian society as a whole, earning western Ukrainians the nickname "Tyroleans of the East" for their loyalty to Austria. In the words of Ukrainian Catholic pilgrims visiting the tombs of the first two Austrian rulers to rule Ukraine, "lost deep in thought, we gazed at the coffins of Maria Theresa and her son Joseph
, whose names are written in golden letters in our people's history."
The family of the Ukrainian Catholic priest had three sources of income. A modest government salary was sufficient for household expenses and to pay for one son's education. Priests also made money from sizable farms (priests' landholdings were larger than those of peasants and typically varied in size from 12.5 to 50 hectares, compared to 2.8 hectares owned by the average peasant ) and from sacramental fees for burials, weddings, christenings, etc. These paid for daughters' dowries, clothing for the wife to wear in society, buying and repairing carriages, investments for the farm, etc.
Priests' wives were also active in the community. They administered "folk medicine" in their communities and cultivated and administered herbs, grasses and other plants with supposed medicinal value.
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
were a hereditary tight-knit social caste that dominated western Ukrainian society from the late eighteenth until the mid twentieth centuries, following the reforms instituted by Joseph II, Emperor of Austria
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
. Because, like their Orthodox brethren, Ukrainian Catholic priests could marry, they were able to establish "priestly dynasties", often associated with specific regions, for many generations. Numbering approximately 2,000-2,500 by the 19th century, priestly families tended to marry within their group, constituting a tight-knit hereditary caste. In the absence of a significant native nobility, and enjoying a virtual monopoly on education and wealth within western Ukrainian society, the clergy came to form that group's native aristocracy. The clergy adopted Austria's role for them as bringers of culture and education to the Ukrainian countryside. Most Ukrainian social and political movements in Austrian-controlled territory emerged or were highly influenced by the clergy themselves or by their children. This influence was so great that western Ukrainians were accused of wanting to create a theocracy in western Ukraine by their Polish rivals. . The central role played by the Ukrainian clergy or their children in western Ukrainian society would weaken somewhat at the end of the nineteenth century but would continue until The Soviet Union forcibly dissolved the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukrainian territories in the mid-twentieth century.
Background
East Slavs
The East Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking East Slavic languages. Formerly the main population of the medieval state of Kievan Rus, by the seventeenth century they evolved into the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian peoples.-Sources:...
state of Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
was converted to the Eastern form of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
at the behest of Vladimir I of Kiev
Vladimir I of Kiev
Vladimir Sviatoslavich the Great Old East Slavic: Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь Old Norse as Valdamarr Sveinaldsson, , Vladimir, , Volodymyr, was a grand prince of Kiev, ruler of Kievan Rus' in .Vladimir's father was the prince Sviatoslav of the Rurik dynasty...
. Following the East-West Schism
East-West Schism
The East–West Schism of 1054, sometimes known as the Great Schism, formally divided the State church of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively...
between the Roman and Byzantine Churches, the form of Christianity that Kievan Rus followed became known (in English) as the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
. The westernmost part of Kieven Rus formed the independent Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which Poland conquered in 1349. Over the following centuries, most of the native nobility adopted the dominant Polish nationality and Roman Catholic religion. Thus, the local native society was composed principally of priests and peasants. In an attempt to limit Polish pressure, the Union of Brest
Union of Brest
Union of Brest or Union of Brześć refers to the 1595-1596 decision of the Church of Rus', the "Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus'", to break relations with the Patriarch of Constantinople and place themselves under the Pope of Rome. At the time, this church included most Ukrainians and...
(1595/1596) saw the creation of the Uniate Church (later the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
) in the former parts of Kievan Rus under Polish rule. Like other Eastern Catholic Churches, the Uniate Church maintained the liturgical
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy is the common term for the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine tradition of Christian liturgy. As such, it is used in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches. Armenian Christians, both of the Armenian Apostolic Church and of the Armenian Catholic Church, use the same term...
, theological and devotional traditions, including married priesthood, of the Orthodox Church - despite its new allegiance to Rome.
History
The centuries of Polish rule were characterized by a steady erosion of the economic and social status of most of the local Galician clergy. Prior to the Habsburg reforms, a very small number of Greek Catholic clergy, often Polonized nobility, were linked to the Basilian orderOrder of Saint Basil the Great
The Order of St. Basil the Great also known as the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat is an monastic religious order of the Greek Catholic Churches that is present in many countries and that has its Mother House in Rome. The order received approbation on August 20, 1631...
. The Order was independent of the Greek Catholic hierarchy and continued to enjoy certain wealth and privileges which it did not share with the rest of the Church. In striking contrast, the large majority of Galician priests, although not serfs, were frequently forced to work for the Polish nobles and treated little better than peasants by them, and priests' sons who did not follow their fathers' vocation were often placed under the same feudal obligations as were hereditary serfs. Such circumstances fostered a sense of solidarity and closeness between the priests and the peasants. There were cases of Ukrainian priests or their sons participating in or leading armed insurrections against Polish nobility. The situation changed when the region of Galicia was annexed by Austria in 1772.
Travelling the lands newly acquired from Poland in 1772
First Partition of Poland
The First Partition of Poland or First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. Growth in the Russian Empire's power, threatening the Kingdom of Prussia and the...
, Austrian emperor Joseph II decided that the Greek Catholic clergy would be ideal vehicles for bringing about enlightened reform among the Ukrainian population. With this in mind he undertook major reforms designed to increase the status and educational level of the Ukrainian clergy in order to enable them to play the role he assigned for them. The Greek Catholic Church and its clergy was raised in status in order to make it legally equal in all respects to its Roman Catholic counterpart. The previously independent Basilian Order was subordinated to the Greek Catholic hierarchy. Ukrainian Catholic priests were granted stipends by the Austrian government, liberating them economically from the Polish nobles who were now prevented by the Austrians from interfering with them. Ukrainian priests were also allotted larger tracts of land that further contributed to an improvement in their financial situation. Whereas previously the Ukrainian priests had typically been taught by their fathers (and their rudimentary education was largely limited to the Liturgy, basic knowledge of the Church Slavonic language, and basic literacy), the Austrians opened seminaries specifically for Ukrainian Catholic students in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
(1774) and Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
(1783) that provided subsequent generations of priests with University-level education and a strong exposure to Western culture. The sons of priests who served in the bishop's administration were given the same rights to state offices as had the sons of nobles. As a result of the Austrian reforms of the late 18th century, the Ukrainian Catholic priests thus became the first large educated social class within the Ukrainian population in Galicia.
Ukrainian Russophiles
The focus of this article is part of a general political movement in Western Ukraine of the nineteenth and early 20th century. The movement contained several competing branches: Moscowphiles, Ukrainophiles, Rusynphiles, and others....
who sought to unite Ukraine with Russia and of the Ukrainianophiles, who supported Ukrainian independence, were dominated by members of the clergy. The Supreme Ruthenian Council which represented the Ukrainian people in dealing with the Austrian authorities, consisted primarily of clergy and met in the consistory of St. George's Cathedral
St. George's Cathedral, Lviv
St. George's Cathedral is a baroque-rococo cathedral located in the city of Lviv, the historic capital of western Ukraine. It was constructed between 1744-1760 on a hill overlooking the city. This is the third manifestation of a church to inhabit the site since the 13th century, and its prominence...
, the "mother church" of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. The first non-clerical secular intelligentsia to emerge among western Ukrainians (lawyers, writers, doctors) were typically the children of priests, which served to perpetuate clerical influence among western Ukrainians. Because priests served as the only conduit between the cities and the peasants of the villages, urban Ukrainian intellectuals seeking to reach the peasants were forced by circumstances to work through the priests. They thus tended to be deferential to them and sought to avoid antagonizing the clergy.
The situation changed somewhat by the late nineteenth century. The clergy's colossal efforts to educate the peasants resulted in the relative loss of priestly power. New members of the intelligentsia arose from the peasantry, some of whom objected to what they considered to be the priestly patronizing attitudes towards peasants as childlike or drunkards needing to be taught and led. Simultaneously, urban intellectuals no longer had to go through priests in order to spread their ideas among a newly literate peasantry. The Radical movement
Ukrainian Radical Party
The Ukrainian Radical Party, , founded in October 1890 and based on the Radical movement in western Ukraine dating from the 1870s, was the first modern Ukrainian political party with a defined program, mass following, and registered membership...
appeared in Western Ukraine in the 1870s. Its political party
Ukrainian Radical Party
The Ukrainian Radical Party, , founded in October 1890 and based on the Radical movement in western Ukraine dating from the 1870s, was the first modern Ukrainian political party with a defined program, mass following, and registered membership...
, founded in 1890, was explicitly anti-clerical and sought to limit the clergy's influence. The Radicals helped to spread discontent against the status quo by criticizing sacramental fees that were considered to be too high for the poor peasants, publicizing disputes over land rights between the Church and the peasantry, and attacking priests' authority on moral matters. Often having to wait until the priests had taught the peasants how to read, the Radicals took over many of the reading clubs that the priests had founded and turned them into sources of anti-clerical agitation. In the words of one church leader speaking about reading clubs, "instead of national love they have awakened in our peasant self-love and arrogance." The Radicals' anti-clerical efforts helped to curb the clergy's power. For example, father M. Sichynsy, who had been elected to the Galician Diet in 1883, lost an election to the Reichsrat in 1889 to a Polish candidate, count Borkowski in part because of conflicts between the priest and local peasants over land usage. While the clergy dominated the ethnic Ukrainian parliamentary delegations in the 1860's and 1870's, of the 28 Ukrainian members of Austria's parliament in 1909-1911 only four were clerics. Despite such changes, the largest and most popular western Ukrainian political party from the late nineteenth until through the mid twentieth century continued to be the Ukrainian National Democratic Party
Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance
The Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance, was the largest Ukrainian political party in the Second Polish Republic, active in territory that is currently Western Ukraine. It dominated the mainstream political life of the Ukrainian minority in Poland, which with almost 14% of Poland's population...
, founded and led by the priest's son Kost Levytsky
Kost Levytsky
Kost Levytsky was a Ukrainian politician. He was a founder of the Ukrainian National Democratic movement and the leader of the State Representative Body of the Ukrainian government declared on June 30, 1941-Biography:...
., and the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Andrey Sheptytsky
Andrey Sheptytsky
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from 1901 until his death. During his tenure, he led the Church through two world wars and seven political regimes: Austrian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Soviet, German National Socialist , and...
, would be seen as a "father figure" for most western Ukrainians until his death in the 1940's.
Impact on society and culture
Cantor (church)
A cantor is the chief singer employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor....
do so. Between 1842 and 1856 approximately 1,000 parish schools were established in the Lviv eparchy. Of 43 Ukrainian-language books published in Galicia between 1837 and 1850, 40 were written by members of the clergy.
In 1831 seminarians were required by the head of the Church to take classes in agronomy
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
because they were expected to introduce modern farming methods to the peasants. Many priests used their lands as "model farms
Model Farm
A model farm was an 18th–19th century experimental farm, which researched and demonstrated improvements in agricultural techniques, efficiency, and building layout. Education and commitment to improving welfare standards of workers were also aspects of the ideal farm movement...
," cultivating new varieties of grains or other plants. In one region, for example, priests planted the first apricot orchards. Some priests even taught agricultural methods from the pulpit.
Priests also founded temperance societies, reading clubs, and were significant figures in the Ukrainian cooperative movement
Ukrainian cooperative movement
The Ukrainian Cooperative Movement was a movement based primarily in Western Ukraine that addressed the economic plight of the western Ukrainian people through the creation of financial, agricultural and trade cooperatives that enabled western Ukrainians to pool their resources, to obtain less...
. As an example of priests' impact in one community, in the village of Lanivtsi in southern Galicia, the local priestly dynasty established the community's credit union, local reading club, and child-care facilities.
The role of the clergy had a profound impact on the Ukrainian national movement. In contrast to the Polish intelligentsia, which largely derived from the lower nobility, the western Ukrainian intelligentsia largely derived from the clergy. Studying in Vienna, Ukrainian seminarians came into contact with the West at the time when Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs...
and the virtues of the "People" had come to dominate modern thought in central Europe. The Ukrainian seminarians established contact with Czech students who were undertaking an extensive revival of their national culture
Czech National Revival
Czech National Revival was a cultural movement, which took part in the Czech lands during the 18th and 19th century. The purpose of this movement was to revive Czech language, culture and national identity...
and came to imitate their efforts.
Most of the leaders of the Ukrainian Women's Union (Soyuz Ukrainok) were the wives and daughters of priests.
The historical background of the Galician clergy contributed to a strong hostility and rivalry towards Poles, as well as a fierce sense of loyalty to Austria and the Habsburg dynasty by most Galician clerics. These attitudes were transmitted to their parishioners and thus reflected in Ukrainian society as a whole, earning western Ukrainians the nickname "Tyroleans of the East" for their loyalty to Austria. In the words of Ukrainian Catholic pilgrims visiting the tombs of the first two Austrian rulers to rule Ukraine, "lost deep in thought, we gazed at the coffins of Maria Theresa and her son Joseph
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
, whose names are written in golden letters in our people's history."
Family life
The vast majority of clergy had families. In 1894 only 3 percent of Galician priests were celibate. Reflecting the clergy's role as community leaders and organizers, family life centered not on religion but on political and social questions. According to the memoirs of one priest's son, his own family and that of other priests were "honorable" but much more concerned about national than religious issues. Conversations centered on economic concerns, village affairs, and politics while in his and other priestly families moral or religious matters were not discussed. Despite the role of the Ukrainian clergy within the Ukrainian national revival, the clergy's educational and social status resulted in the Polish language being the language of daily use by most clerical families until the end of the 19th century.The family of the Ukrainian Catholic priest had three sources of income. A modest government salary was sufficient for household expenses and to pay for one son's education. Priests also made money from sizable farms (priests' landholdings were larger than those of peasants and typically varied in size from 12.5 to 50 hectares, compared to 2.8 hectares owned by the average peasant ) and from sacramental fees for burials, weddings, christenings, etc. These paid for daughters' dowries, clothing for the wife to wear in society, buying and repairing carriages, investments for the farm, etc.
Priests' wives were also active in the community. They administered "folk medicine" in their communities and cultivated and administered herbs, grasses and other plants with supposed medicinal value.
Prominent Western Ukrainians with ties to the clergy
- Stepan BanderaStepan BanderaStepan Andriyovych Bandera was a Ukrainian politician and one of the leaders of Ukrainian national movement in Western Ukraine , who headed the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists...
, radical Ukrainian nationalist leader; father was a priest and mother was a priest's daughter - Oleksander BarvinskyOleksander BarvinskyOleksander Barvinsky was an important western Ukrainian cultural figure and politician, a founder of the Christian Social Party in western Ukraine. He also was a member of the Austrian parliament, chaired the Shevchenko Scientific Society and held the post of secretary of education and religious...
, creator of Ukrainian-language textbooks, founder of Christian Social Party in UkraineChristian Social Movement in UkraineThe Christian Social Movement in Ukraine was a political movement that existed in Western Ukraine from the end of the 19th century until the 1930s.-Ideals:...
, secretary of education and religious affairs of the West Ukrainian National RepublicWest Ukrainian National RepublicThe West Ukrainian People's Republic was a short-lived republic that existed in late 1918 and early 1919 in eastern Galicia, that claimed parts of Bukovina and Carpathian Ruthenia and included the cities of Lviv , Przemyśl , Kolomyia , and Stanislaviv...
; priest's son - Yakiv HolovatskyYakiv HolovatskyYakiv Holovatsky was born October 17, 1814 in Chepeli, Zloczow powiat, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria - died on May 13, 1888 in Vilno, Russian Empire...
, major RussophileUkrainian RussophilesThe focus of this article is part of a general political movement in Western Ukraine of the nineteenth and early 20th century. The movement contained several competing branches: Moscowphiles, Ukrainophiles, Rusynphiles, and others....
leader and one-time president of Lviv UniversityLviv UniversityThe Lviv University or officially the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv is the oldest continuously operating university in Ukraine...
; priest - Solomiya Krushelnytska, Opera singer; her father, a priest, financed her education
- Kost LevytskyKost LevytskyKost Levytsky was a Ukrainian politician. He was a founder of the Ukrainian National Democratic movement and the leader of the State Representative Body of the Ukrainian government declared on June 30, 1941-Biography:...
, head of the Secretariate of the West Ukrainian People's Republic and cofounder and head of the Ukrainian National Democratic PartyUkrainian National Democratic AllianceThe Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance, was the largest Ukrainian political party in the Second Polish Republic, active in territory that is currently Western Ukraine. It dominated the mainstream political life of the Ukrainian minority in Poland, which with almost 14% of Poland's population...
; son of a priest - Ivan NaumovichIvan NaumovichIvan Naumovich , was a priest, member of parliament, writer, and major figure in the Russophile movement in western Ukraine. His article Glimpse into the future was considered the most important manifesto of Galician Russophilism -Background:...
, major Russophile ideologist and activist, member of Austrian parliament. A priest from a clerical family who was excommuniated and then joined the Russian Orthodox Church - Yevhen PetrushevychYevhen PetrushevychYevhen Petrushevych was a Ukrainian lawyer, politician, and president of the Western Ukrainian National Republic formed after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918.-Biography:He was born on June 3, 1863, in the town of Busk, of Galicia in the clerical...
, leader of the Ukrainian delegates to Austria's parliament and then president of the Western Ukrainian National Republic; priest's son - Markiyan ShashkevychMarkiyan ShashkevychMarkiyan Shashkevych was a priest of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, a poet, a translator, and the leader of the literary revival in Right Bank Ukraine.In 1832, they organized a group of students aimed at the rise of the Ukrainian...
, publisher of the first collection of Ukrainian-language literature in western Ukraine; priest - Andrey SheptytskyAndrey SheptytskyMetropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from 1901 until his death. During his tenure, he led the Church through two world wars and seven political regimes: Austrian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Soviet, German National Socialist , and...
, Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic ChurchUkrainian Greek Catholic ChurchThe Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , Ukrainska Hreko-Katolytska Tserkva), is the largest Eastern Rite Catholic sui juris particular church in full communion with the Holy See, and is directly subject to the Pope...
from 1901 until his death in 1944; seen as a "father figure" by most Western Ukrainians. - Yaroslav StetskoYaroslav StetskoYaroslav Stetsko was the leader of the Bandera's Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists , from 1968 until death. In 1941, during Nazi Germany invasion into the Soviet Union he was self-proclaimed temporary head of the self-proclaimed Ukrainian statehood...
prominent member of the Organization of Ukrainian NationalistsOrganization of Ukrainian NationalistsThe Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists is a Ukrainian political organization which as a movement originally was created in 1929 in Western Ukraine . The OUN accepted violence as an acceptable tool in the fight against foreign and domestic enemies particularly Poland and Russia...
and Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Independent Ukrainian Republic, priest's son - Kyryl StudynskyKyryl StudynskyKyryl Studynsky , was a western Ukrainian political and cultural figure from the late-19th to the mid-20th century. One of the principal figures within the Christian Social Movement in Ukraine, in 1939 Studynsky became head of the People's Assembly of Western Ukraine following the Soviet...
, long-time head of the Shevchenko Scientific SocietyShevchenko Scientific SocietyThe Shevchenko Scientific Society is a Ukrainian scientific society devoted to the promotion of scholarly research and publication. Unlike the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine the society is a public organization that was reestablished in Ukraine in 1989 after almost 50 years of exile...
, and head of the People's Assembly of Western Ukraine, leading the delegation to Moscow that formally requested the inclusion of Western Ukraine to the Soviet Union; from a clerical family - Lonhyn TsehelskyLonhyn TsehelskyLonhyn Tsehelsky was a western Ukrainian lawyer, journalist and political leader who served in the Austrian parliament, who became Secretary of Internal Affairs and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs within the government of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, and who was one of the founders of...
, interior and foreign secretary of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic and a founder of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of AmericaUkrainian Congress Committee of AmericaEstablished in 1940, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Inc. today unites some 20 Ukrainian organizations and over 75 branches throughout the United States. A 37-person, elected, volunteer Board of Directors governs the UCCA in conjunction with a 73-member National Council made up of...
; priest's son - Anatole VakhnianynAnatole VakhnianynAnatole Vakhnianyn , was a Ukrainian political and cultural figure, composer, teacher and journalist.-Biography:Vakhnianyn was born in Sieniawa, Przeworsk County, today a part of Poland but at that time a part of the Austrian Empire. He came from a clerical family; his father, Klym Vakhnianyn, and...
, founder of ProsvitaProsvitaProsvita is a society created in the nineteenth century in Ukrainian Galicia for preserving and developing Ukrainian culture and education among population....
as well as the LvivLvivLviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
Conservatory; son and grandson of priests - Avgustyn Voloshyn, president of Carpatho-UkraineCarpatho-UkraineCarpatho-Ukraine was an autonomous region within Czechoslovakia from late 1938 to March 15, 1939. It declared itself an independent republic on March 15, 1939, but was occupied by Hungary between March 15 and March 18, 1939, remaining under Hungarian control until the Nazi occupation of Hungary in...
; priest - Pavlo Hayda, Ukrainian-AmericanUkrainian-AmericanUkrainian Americans are citizens and permanent residents of the United States who have recently emigrated to the United States and are of Ukrainian ancestry. According to U.S. census estimates, in 2006 there were 961,113 Americans of Ukrainian descent representing 0.33% of the American population...
priest and activist in the Ukrainian Community of Chicago, Illinois, grandfather was a priest, mother daughter of a priest, direct descendent of Yov Knyahynetsky.