Sacrum and profanum in religious life of peasantsin Western Ukraine (1918 - 1939)

Abstract

The purpose of the article – to analyze the religious life of the peasants of Western Ukraine during 1918 – 1939 and to outline the peculiarities of the ideological landmarks in the spiritual sphere. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of historicism, systemicity, scientism, verification, the author’s objectivity, a moderate narrative constructivism, as well as the use of the general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special-historical (historical-genetic, historical-typological, historical-systemic, historical and chronological) methods. The scientific novelty of the work is that for the first time in Ukrainian historiography, based on the analysis of the previously unknown archival documents and materials, the correlation between sacrum and profanum in the religious life of the peasants of Western Ukraine during 1918 – 1939 has been investigated. Conclusions. The religious life of the peasants of Western Ukraine during the above-mentioned period was determined by a number of factors. Firstly, the declared problem coincides with the time of the formation and establishment of the Polish statehood, which in turn predetermined the strict regulation of the spiritual sphere by the authorities. Secondly, the Polish authorities and the local Roman Catholic clergy, officially declaring t hefreedom of religion, in practice succeeded in the administrative pressure, manipulating and aggravating the interfaith relations. Under such conditions, the rural population, who formed the Orthodox and the Greek Catholic communities, became hostages in the struggle to preserve the traditional religious rituals and the national identity. The consequence of this was shifting the emphasis from the primary (sacred) cultivation of the Christian beliefs towards the profane. In particular, important were the external features of the churches, a religious self-determination, the administration of a religious life, and the involvement of the parish community into the political processes. The rural population was not particularly concerned with the essence of the Christian doctrine, being limited to the external attributes: the regular visits to the church, a jealous (demonstrative) observance of the traditional religious rites, the worship, the celebration of Christian holidays, a regular payment of donations. Actually an important duty of the peasants was the strict observance of the established, traditional religious ritual. The understanding of the Christian doctrine and the communication with the God were a pastoral matter. It is worth noting that the clergy did not attempt to overcome this prevailing stereotype, and the parishioners were often viewed as a source of the clergy’s wealth by means of conducting the sacred services.