«A Pathway to Schism»: Polish religious leaders on the Greek-Catholic Church in Eastern Galicia in the early 20th century

The article analyzes the propaganda struggle between church representatives of the Polish and Ukrainian communities of Eastern Galicia at the beginning of the 20th century. The Polish clergy accused the Greek-Catholic (Uniate) priests of the split in Eastern Galician community and using church structures for political purposes. One faction of the priests, the “Russophiles”, sought to restore the ethnic and cultural unity between the Ruthenians of Eastern Galicia and the Russian people. Another faction, the “Ukrainophiles”, used the church for propaganda of Ukrainian nationalism among the Ruthenians. According to the Polish clergy, the activities of Greek-Catholic priests set the “Ruthenian” population apart from Catholicism and pushed it closer to Orthodoxy. The Polish clergy was also concerned about the desire of the Uniate priests to introduce ethnic Poles to the Greek-Catholic religious ceremony. Polish church leaders believed that such a practice may force the Poles in Eastern Galicia to turn to Orthodoxy instead of Catholicism. This threat was considered even more believable in case of Eastern Galicia was seized from Poland and integrated into Ukraine.