New Collection of Soviet Documents Regarding Patriarch Josyf Slipyj Presented at UCU

A two-volume book entitled Patriarch Josyf Slipyj in Soviet Security Services Documents (1939-1987) was presented on March 7 at the Ukrainian Catholic University, (UCU), the press service of UCU reported.

The book was compiled by a Professor Volodymyr Serhiichuk of the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University. It is the first publication of documents of the Soviet Security Services regarding the life and activity of the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

Director of the Institute of Church History of UCU Fr. Dr. Andrii Mykhailenko stressed that the book is a great contribution to the source base with regard to the study of the figure of Josyf Slipyj, particularly of the period of 1945-1963: “As we analyze the documents we can see the conflict of two absolutely different and irreconcilable worldviews. Slipyj used normal terminology clear for the church and Ukrainian environment, and the other side viewed it as espionage and treason,” commented the historian.

According to the author, Volodymyr Serhiichuk, the book includes protocols of the interrogations, reports, arrest warrants, lists of confiscated property, and so on. “The documents were selected to show the figure of Josyf Slipyj in different aspects, in everyday life, the religious and scholarly activities not only of a religious figure but also of a statesman,” noted the compiler.

However, the historian warned that the protocols of interrogations are not always verbatim records: “They were written by the interrogation officer who could add to the protocols anything. Later, the patriarch stated in court that he was made to sign what he did not say.”

According to the author, the published documents show the true attitude of the Bolshevik regime to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the efforts to break the church. “These are the documents of the enemy, the one who destroyed the UGCC, and they show what superhuman efforts had to be made by the patriarch and his followers to defend their beliefs and the interests of Ukraine.”