Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church in Donbas (1921-1930)
Abstract
The purpose of the research paper is to show the process of formation, development, and collapse of the movement for the Ukrainization of Orthodoxy in Donbas, to analyze the statistical indicators of the parishes of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), and to find out the main milestones of their history at the regional level.
Scientific novelty. Completely unknown pages of the history of the UAOC in Donbas until now are uncovered, the development of Slobidska Ukraine and Donetsk church district is reconstructed with an emphasis on the parishes of Donetsk region, and the names of the leaders and fighters for the Ukrainization of Donbas churches and clergymen who followed the path of autocephaly are brought back from oblivion. Special attention is paid to the leaders of the UAOC of the studied region – Oleksandr Yareshchenko, Mykola Pyvovarov, and Ivan Pavlovskyi.
Conclusions. Eastern Ukraine, and especially Donbas, turned out to be the most stagnant region regarding the Ukrainization of Orthodoxy and the autocephalous communities formation. The lack of a proper body of active functionaries in the region, as well as the inconsistency of the first hierarchs’ ordinations and the excessive reformationess of the UAOC, led to the fact that the first parish was established there only in the middle of 1922 in Luhansk. But that attempt was never fully realized.
In the history of the UAOC of Donbas, we distinguish two stages: 1921-1925 was the period of the autocephaly establishing in the region, organizational design, and the greatest rise; 1925-1930 was the time of stabilization and gradual diminishing.
The first stage of the formation of the parish network in Donbas was ambiguous. On the one hand, it showed the willingness of the Ukrainian population of Donetsk region to have a nationally oriented church. That was evidenced by the network of parishes established during 1923-1924 in the region when 15 parishes were registered there. On the other hand, there were strong positions of the Russian Orthodox Church supporters, a certain rejection of the ‘Alexandrian’ way of consecrating the episcopate, and the opposition of the Bilshovyk authorities which led to the closing down of 50% of parishes during the end of 1924 – the first half of 1925.
The second stage was marked by the arrest of the head of the church district, Archbishop Oleksandr Yareshchenko, the stabilization of relations with the Soviet authorities, and the regulation of church discipline and religious life. A peculiar feature of Slobidska Ukraine and Donetsk church district was its complete separation from the schism of the UAOC under the flag of the so-called ‘Active Church of Christ’ (‘Diialno-Khrystova Tserkva’).
The mass anti-religious campaign spreading over the country in 1929-1930 greatly influenced the religious communities of Donbas. In the first months of 1930, the UAOC completely lost its parish network in the region.
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