Ideological aspects of understanding Ukrainian church history in the materials of the scientific congress of the millennium of the baptism of Rus-Ukraine (Munich, April-May 1988)

The article analyzes the ideological foundations of the views of researchers from the Ukrainian diaspora on the church history of South-Western Rus, which were reflected in the materials of the Scientific Congress of the Millennium of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine, held in late April-early May 1988 in Munich. The materials of the Congress became a kind of result of the development of church historiography of the diaspora and were of great importance for the formation of the worldview of Ukrainian scholars in the context of the fall of the ideological barrier and the formation of an independent state. First of all, the author draws attention to attempts to root the presence of the Latin tradition in the early history of Christianity in Southwest Rus. In this context, the emphasis on tolerance and overcoming confessional boundaries for the sake of the people’s good and the national idea is characteristic. The sacralization of popular life and the emphasis on the national idea devalue the sacred space of the Church in the eyes of historians of the diaspora. The church turns into “the spiritual property of the people”. The author also draws attention to the peculiarities of the methodology used by the historians of the Ukrainian diaspora when assessing historical facts.