The ‘Lviv Sobor’ of 1946 and Its Aftermath : Towards Truth and Reconciliation

In 1946 the 'Lviv Sobor' voted to liquidate the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church. The Moscow Patriarchate considers it a 'triumph of Orthodoxy, ' while the Catholic Church condemns it as an illegitimate council convened by Soviet authorities. What is the truth? This volume presents the contexts of the 'Lviv Sobor, ' its aftermath, and reception from various perspectives. Although there is no common narrative, scholars have concluded that the decisions of the 'Lviv Sobor' were coerced by Soviet authorities, the Russian Orthodox Church was forced to collaborate, and that reconciliation depends on acknowledging these facts in order to move toward reconciliation. Table of Contents 8 The ‘Lviv Sobor’ of 1946: Perspectives on and Challenges to a Common Narrative 12 Lviv and the Longue Durée: Ecclesial History in Ukraine from the Union of Brest to the Sobor of Lviv 28 Soviet Political Religion 48 The Lviv Council of 1946 as Reflected by the Church Press of the Soviet Era: The History of the Perception of the ‘Uniate Problem’ 60 The Catholic History of the ‘Lviv Sobor’ of 1946 76 Canonical Considerations on the Legitimacy of the ‘Lviv Sobor’ of 1946 110 The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church after the 1946 ‘Lviv Sobor’: Living through the Soviet Period 130 The Holy See and the ‘Lviv Sobor’ of 1946 158 Émigré Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church Responses to the 1946 Pseudo-Sobor of Lviv 180 Brest 1596 and Lviv 1946 Between Historiography and Propaganda: Ecumenical Lessons of Two Dramatic Events in Church History 196 Towards a Future Collaboration of Byzantine Catholic and Byzantine Orthodox Christians 220 Epilogue 238 Index 240