The position of the roman catholic church in Vinnytsia region in the late 1940s – early 1950s (based on reports of the regional council for religious affairs)

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to analyze, based on materials from the Vinnytsia branch of the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the state of functioning of the Catholic denomination in the Vinnytsia region; to trace the specifics of relations between the authorities, the Catholic clergy, and parishioners; to determine to what extent Catholic believers in the postwar period were able to exercise their right to freedom of religion and what survival practices they adopted under the peak of Stalinist totalitarianism; and to characterize the sentiments of the faithful. The research methodology combines general scientific and historical methods, the main ones being generalization, problem-chronological, historical-systemic, and comparative-historical approaches. Considerable attention is given to statistical analysis in tracing the dynamics of the number of religious communities and to content analysis of the reports of the Commissioner of the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR for the Vinnytsia region. The scientific novelty lies in the fact that, for the first time, archival materials of reports and analytical memoranda of the Commissioner of the Council for Religious Affairs for the Vinnytsia region have been introduced into scholarly circulation, allowing for an analysis of the state of the Catholic community in Vinnytsia region during 1945–1952. Conclusions. The activity of the Catholic Church in the Vinnytsia region during the postwar period was conditioned by several factors. In particular, the Nazi occupation had revived the life of religious communities, while the Stalinist regime—seeking both to consolidate the population of the USSR and to present itself favorably before the Allies in the anti-Hitler coalition—could not completely suppress the Catholic community’s activity. Compared to other Christian denominations in the region, Catholics in Vinnytsia faced perhaps the greatest pressure from the Stalinist regime. Their conduct under such harsh conditions amounted to a struggle for survival. They were forced to renounce their values, refrain from recognizing the supremacy of the Vatican, and accept Stalinist ideological claims about the “imperialist nature” of the Roman Pope’s policy. The authorities used various pretexts to divide and eliminate Catholic communities—such as the small number of parishioners, alleged anti-Soviet behavior, or “suspicious” ties with Western countries. The Stalinist regime also sought to deprive Catholics of access to sacred buildings, justifying it by the poor condition of churches, the supposed need to use them for economic or cultural-educational purposes, or the presence of another church “nearby.” Believers were also subjected to economic pressure, with strict monitoring of tax payments and the fulfillment of work quotas in collective farms. Thus, the authorities exerted severe pressure on the Catholic community of Vinnytsia region and aimed at its complete liquidation.