Orthodox churches in Poland. Orthodox churches in Poland Orthodox Poles

Polish Orthodox Church

Story

Christianity came to what is now Poland in 966 under Prince Mieszko I.

In 1385, the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jagiello declared himself a Catholic (which was the condition of his marriage to the Polish Queen Jadwiga), and in 1387, his state was Catholic, after which many of the Orthodox converted to Catholicism.

In October 1596, most of the Orthodox bishops, headed by Metropolitan Mikhail Ragoza of Kiev, accepted the jurisdiction of the Pope at the Brest Uniate Council (the Bishop of Lvov and Kamyanets-Podilsky Gideon Balaban and Przemyslsky Mikhail Kopystensky remained Orthodox, since 1610 - only Jeremiah Tissarovsky). The performance of new episcopal consecrations for the Orthodox was not permitted by the Polish government. In 1620, the Orthodox Metropolis of Kiev was restored.

After the assassination of Metropolitan Georgy on February 8, 1923 and the election on February 27 by the Council of Bishops of Poland to the chair of the Warsaw Metropolis Dionysius (Waledinsky), Patriarch Gregory VII of Constantinople without the consent of the Moscow Patriarchate (Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow was then under arrest), referring to the non-canonicity of the transfer in 1686 of part Metropolitan of Kiev under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, with his tomos approved his election on March 13, recognizing for Metropolitan Dionysius the title of Metropolitan of Warsaw and Volyn and the entire Orthodox Church in Poland and the Holy Archimandrite of the Pochaev Dormition Lavra.

On August 16, 1924, Metropolitan Dionysius of Warsaw convened a meeting of the Synod in Pochaev to take emergency measures in connection with the mood in the Church caused by the calendar reform. The bishops were in favor of continuing to adhere to a flexible line: where the people refused to accept the new style, to bless the worship according to the Julian calendar. Since then new calendar remained in use in the Warsaw Metropolitan Cathedral and in the Orthodox churches of voivodeships with a predominantly Polish population. In Volhynia and Belarus, Orthodox churches returned to the Julian style. The decision of the Synod was apparently agreed with the Polish authorities. Ministry of Religions and Public Education Ministerstwo Wyznań Religijnych i Oświecenia Publicznego) sent an order to the Volyn governor at the same time not to allow administrative influence on parishes where Orthodox services are performed according to the old calendar.

On November 13, 1924, the Patriarchal and Synodal Tomos was granted in Constantinople recognizing the Orthodox Church in Poland as autocephalous. In September 1925, representatives of the Constantinople and Romanian churches arrived in Warsaw, where on September 17, in the presence of the entire episcopate of Poland, a solemn reading of the Patriarchal Tomos took place in the Metropolitan Church of St. Mary Magdalene. Autocephaly was recognized by other local Churches, except for the Moscow Patriarchate, which broke communion with Metropolitan Dionysius and the episcopate of Poland.

The first primate of the autocephalous Polish Church was Metropolitan Dionysius (Valedinsky) (1923-1948). After the establishment of the communist regime in Poland, the metropolitan was forced to reconcile with the Moscow Patriarchate on the condition of renouncing the primate. Until his death in 1960, he lived in retirement, carried on friendly correspondence with Patriarch Alexy I.

Since in 1924 Poland included Western Ukraine, Western Belarus and the Vilna region, then over 90% of the believers of the Polish Orthodox Church were East Slavic population. The Poles made up no more than 10% of the believers. The Polish Orthodox Church until 1939 included five dioceses: Warsaw, Vilna, Volhynia (the center is the city of Kremenets), Grodno and Polesie (the center is the city of Pinsk).

During the two summer months of 1938, as part of the Polonization policy that was carried out in Poland in 1938-1939, 127 Orthodox churches were destroyed, a third of all churches that existed in southeastern Poland.

During the years of the Great Patriotic War an attempt was made to create the Polish Church (UAOC) by the hierarchs. The autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church was proclaimed, Metropolitan Dionysius was enthroned by the Patriarch, however, due to the offensive of the Soviet troops, it was not possible to secure autocephaly and gain recognition. The hierarchs of the UAOC continued their activities abroad.

On August 22, 1948, under pressure from the communist pro-Soviet regime established in Poland, Metropolitan Dionisy addressed a letter of repentance to Patriarch Alexy of Moscow with a request to be accepted into canonical communion with the Russian Church. The Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate granted the request of Metropolitan Dionysius and received him in the rank of Metropolitan in prayer fellowship, while depriving him of the title of His Beatitude and not recognizing him as the head of the Polish Church. Two months earlier, a Polish church delegation headed by Bishop of Bialystok and Belsk Timothy Schroetter arrived in Moscow, and on June 22, 1948, at a meeting of the Holy Synod, she was presented with a resolution of the Synod, "according to which the Russian Church blessed the Polish Church for independent existence." (The collection of signatures of the bishops of the Russian Church under the Diploma on granting the rights of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Poland continued until November 22, 1948, after which it was sent to Archbishop Timothy as "Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Board of the Orthodox Church in Poland"). From now on, its primate received the title of Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland. From 1949 to 1952, the Polish Church had three, and since 1952 - four dioceses: Warsaw-Biel, Bialystok-Gdansk, Lodz-Poznan and Wroclaw-Szczecin. In 1983, the Przemysl-Novosondetsky diocese was restored, and in 1989, the Lublin-Kholmsky diocese.

In 1990, the Orthodox Church of Portugal joined the Polish Orthodox Church on the basis of autonomy, however, in 2001, most of its hierarchs and ordinary clergy, with the exception of two Brazilian bishops and some European parishes, again went into schism.

After the fall of the communist regime in Poland, the Church was able to expand its charitable social activities. In 1996, the Eleos Center was established to provide more effective assistance to those in need; a number of sisterhoods, care homes, and homeless services were created.

On March 18, 2014, the Council of Bishops decided to cancel the conciliar decision of April 12, 1924 on the introduction of a new (Gregorian) style and decided to return to the old (Julian) style, starting from June 15, 2014 (All Saints' Week). "Where there is genuine need, the new style can be used".

In November 2018, the Council of Bishops banned POC priests from entering into liturgical and prayerful contacts with the clergy of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

Modern device and condition

According to the Central Statistical Bureau, there are 506,800 believers. The number of parishes of the Polish Church in 2012 is 237 (226 in Poland, 11 abroad), the number of clergy is about 420 people. Thus, it is the second largest church in Poland.

Orthodox mostly live in the territory of the former Białystok Voivodeship, especially around the cities of Białystok, Hainowka, Bielsk Podlaski and Siemiatycze.

Primate - His Beatitude Metropolitan Savva (Grytsuniak) of Warsaw and all of Poland (since May 12, 1998).

Consists of seven dioceses:

• Diocese of Warsaw and Belsk, headed by Metropolitan Savva (Grytsuniak) of Warsaw and all Poland. The diocese is divided into 6 deanery districts. There are 67 parishes and three monasteries, one seminary.
  • Vicariate of Belsk - Archbishop Gregory (Kharkevich) (since 2017).
  • Gaynov vicariate - Bishop Pavel (Tokayuk) (since 2017).
  • Siemiatychensky vicariate - Bishop Varsonofy (Doroshkevich) (since 2017).
• Diocese of Bialystok and Gdansk, headed by Archbishop Jacob (Kostyuchuk) (since 1998). The diocese is divided into 5 deanery districts. There are 56 parishes and three monasteries (including the Suprasl Annunciation Monastery). There is a youth fraternity.
  • Suprasl vicariate - Bishop Andrei (Borkovski) (since 2017).
• Diocese of Lodz and Poznań, ruling bishop Bishop Athanasius (Nose) (since 2017). The diocese is divided into 3 deaneries. Now there are only 12 parishes.
• Przemysl and Gorlitsky diocese, ruling Archbishop Paisy (Martynyuk) (since 2016). The diocese is divided into 3 deaneries. There are 24 parishes and the monastic community of Intercession B. M. in the village. Vysowa Hello. After the death of Archbishop Adam (Dubets) (07/24/2016), by the decision of the Council of Bishops of the Polish Orthodox Church, the name of the Diocese was renamed from Przemyslsko-Novosondetskaya to Przemyslsko-Gorlitskaya (08/25/2016).
• Diocese of Wroclaw and Szczecin, headed by the Archbishop

For a person who is little acquainted with the life of Orthodoxy throughout the world, it would be strange to hear the phrase "Orthodox Poland." In today's situation it would sound almost like "Orthodox Vatican". Indeed, Poland is a country with the strongest positions catholic church whose influence on the political life of the country can hardly be overestimated. The feeling of national pride in the Polish pope reinforces the already high self-esteem of Polish Catholics.

The history of Orthodoxy in Poland has its roots in ancient times. Christianity first appeared in the Polish lands in the second half of the 9th century thanks to the activity of the mission of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles brothers Methodius and Cyril. In the reign of Prince Mieczysław I, Eastern Christianity becomes dominant, side by side with preaching and Latin missionaries, who managed to gain dominance under the next prince Bolesław the Brave, who, in exchange for recognition of the primacy of the pope, became the first Polish king. However, the militant Boleslav conquered part of the lands of Kievan Rus, where the Orthodox lived, and from that moment on, the Orthodox were always present on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland.

Part of the eastern regions of modern Poland was part of the XIV century. part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, whose population was predominantly Orthodox. The history of Orthodoxy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is a common history for Poland and Belarus. In 1303, the Kiev Metropolis, independent of the Moscow Metropolitan, was formed. The expansionary policy of Catholic Poland was crowned with the State Union of Lublin in 1569, thanks to which the Grand Duchy of Lithuania finally fell under the rule of the Polish kings and the Catholic Church. The mass catholicization of the aristocracy, which began in the 16th century, was aggravated by the introduction of the Brest Church Union in 1596, when the Orthodox Church was outlawed and all Orthodox churches and monasteries during the 16th century were outlawed. became Uniate. In its idea, the union assumed the preservation of the Eastern Orthodox worship, but with the confession of the Catholic faith and the full recognition of papal authority. In fact, for the entire existence of the union Orthodox worship in the Uniate churches it was subjected to strong latinization, the Uniate clergy and the common people were despised by Catholics and subjected to various humiliations. The presence of such an unstable religious institution as the Uniate Church became one of the reasons for the disappearance of the Commonwealth from the political map of Europe at the end of the 18th century. In 1839, the Uniate Church itself ceased to exist, having never fulfilled its main task of converting former Orthodox to Catholicism. On the former lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the revival of Orthodox church life begins.

The political upheavals of the early 20th century revived Polish statehood. On the modern territories of Western Belarus, Western Ukraine and Eastern Poland that became part of Poland, several million Orthodox lived, there were several Orthodox dioceses that were previously part of the Russian Orthodox Church. The new Polish government was also not favorable to the Orthodox Church. During the interwar period, about 150 Orthodox churches were destroyed in Poland, and clergy were persecuted.

After the Second World War, evidence of the revival of Polish Orthodoxy was the granting of autocephaly by the Russian Orthodox Church to the Polish Church. During the Soviet period, the Polish Orthodox Church maintained its positions. A new stage in the development of Polish Orthodoxy began in the first half of the 1980s, when new churches began to be built and new manifestations of church life arose. Today in the Polish Orthodox Church there are 6 dioceses, 8 bishops, 8 monasteries, a theological academy and a theological seminary, schools of icon painters and regents, many charitable initiatives, brotherhoods, there is Orthodox radio, Orthodox TV programs, websites, magazines, newspapers.

Contemporary view

On November 22-23, 2003, a meeting of Orthodox journalists from Poland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Finland was held in Bialystok. The meeting was organized by the editors of the Orthodox journal Pravoslavnoye Obozreniye (Przeglad Prawoslawny). This monthly began to be published in 1985 and now professional journalists work in the editorial office, who try to impartially tell about the life of Orthodoxy in Poland. The journal is not an official organ of the Polish Church, however, all editorial staff are Orthodox and the vast majority of the readership is Orthodox.

The journalistic forum began with a meeting with Bishop Jacob, head of the Orthodox Bialystok-Gdansk diocese. One of the youngest bishops of the Polish Church, Vladyka Jacob heads the diocese, on the territory of which a significant part of the Orthodox population of Poland lives. Vladyka graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy, which allows him to speak Russian without an accent, which was confirmed by the meeting participants, with each of whom Vladyka spoke in anticipation of latecomers. Talking about modern life Bialystok diocese, Vladyka wished success in the joint work of Orthodox journalists.

Marek Masalski, Director of the Eleos Church Mercy Center, Head of the Bureau for of Eastern Europe of the World Council of Churches Miroslav Matrenchik, Yevgenia Litvinchik, a representative of the brotherhood of the Martyr Athanasius of Brest, who has been organizing pilgrimages from Bialystok to Zhirovichi for many years, with which they bring food and clothes collected by the brotherhood for students of Minsk Theological Schools.

The architecture of Orthodox churches in Poland deserves special attention. Of the temples built over the past 20 years, almost every one is something unique. We can talk about the established tradition of modern Orthodox church architecture in Poland, which organically combines traditional content with new forms. A lecture richly illustrated with slides by the architect Jerzy Ustinovich, the author of several projects of already built Orthodox churches, was devoted to this topic. But the organizers, realizing all the justice of the proverb “It is better to see once…”, invited the participants to directly visit the unique churches of the Holy Spirit, Agia Sophia, St. George. No less unique stories about their construction, which, as a rule, is carried out by the parish (for example, the Church of the Holy Spirit was built for 20 years), lead to the conviction that the Orthodox of Poland are a close-knit community that can build such churches, and, most importantly, fill them with believers. A visit to the Suprasl Annunciation Monastery made a special impression on everyone. Founded at the end of the 15th century, the monastery is being actively revived today. Restored (1982-2002) the Annunciation Cathedral, destroyed by the Germans during the Second World War, is a unique example of Orthodox defense architecture (like the Belarusian churches in Synkovichi and Malo-Mozheikovo). The rector of the monastery, Archimandrite Gabriel, in addition to his direct duties, is engaged in herbal medicine, receiving people of all faiths from all over Poland, from Belarus. For many years, the monastery has been trying to return a small plot of land, on which there are the remains of a temple-tomb, where about 200 brothers of the monastery were buried over the centuries. In the church of St. John the Theologian, I notice an icon of Belarusian saints, among which is the image of the Martyr Seraphim, Archimandrite Zhirovitsky. “During the war, he came to Suprasl,” Father Gabriel explains, “and after his martyrdom, the local population revered him and learned with joy about his canonization by the Belarusian Church.” Icons and wall paintings depicting the Martyr Seraphim and other Belarusian saints we met in every church, which testifies to the deep veneration of these saints by the Orthodox of Poland.

Within the walls of the Center Orthodox Culture in Bialystok, Orthodox journalists discussed the possibilities and forms of cooperation. Everyone recognized that in the vast area of ​​Poland-Ukraine-Belarus-Russia we have many common tasks and to solve them alone means to solve them halfway. The discussion continued in a cozy hunting lodge in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, where the hospitable organizers offered the participants a festive dinner.

Sunday began for us with the replacement of a wheel that was punctured while leaving the place of spending the night in one of the boarding houses in Pushcha. After the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the city of Hainovka, the rector of the temple, Archpriest Mikhail Nigerevich, spoke about the annual Festival of Orthodox Church Music that has been held in Gainovka for more than 20 years. More than once the choir of the Minsk Theological Schools successfully participated in this celebration of church music, and more than once this participation was marked by various awards.

Our acquaintance with Orthodox Poland continued on the Holy Mountain of Grabarka, where in 1947 the convent in honor of the gospel sisters of Saints Martha and Mary. This place has long been known for the miracles of healing that occurred from the water of the spring at the foot of the mountain. Also miraculously developed a tradition of pilgrimage to Grabarka with wooden crosses of various sizes, which pilgrims set around a wooden temple. From different parts of Poland, the Orthodox are walking, with crosses in their hands, thus testifying to their faith. On the night of July 12-13, 1990, the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Grabarka was completely burned down as a result of arson. During this period, 7 Orthodox churches burned down. However, the pain in Orthodox hearts became a call for the restoration of the shrine. The new temple was rebuilt and consecrated in 1998. Today, the sisters began building a hotel for pilgrims who gather in large numbers for the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord on August 19th. “Mountain of Crosses and Prayers” is the name of a book that tells about the history of the monastery. One feels here: this place is a symbol of the confessional feat of Polish Orthodoxy. The cross of confession of the Orthodox faith in a hostile society and a prayer that unites souls.

On the way from Grabarka, we visited the temples of the city of Bielsk Podlaski, and an amazing monastery in the town of Sakakh, on the way from Bielsk to Bialystok. The main and only monastery building is the former village school (a sign of urbanization - a village without children). The abbot of the monastery, abbot Varsonofy (Doroshkevich), was educated in Russia, Greece, France, the USA, for many years he carried out pastoral service in Warsaw, however, by his own admission, he was “tired of city life” and settled in a completely remote village, where there is no kind of public there is no transport. The father rector connected the foundation of the monastery with the temple of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica with the miraculous icon of this saint, located a ten-minute walk away. On a small piece of land, the brothers of the monastery (six people) cultivate a vegetable garden.

Sunday evening we spent at the office of Przegladu Prawoslawnego (Orthodox Review) in Bialystok. Despite the abundance of impressions and fatigue, the discussion of the problems and tasks of Orthodox journalism continued in a friendly (two days on wheels were very united), but debatable atmosphere. The unanimous decision to establish an international organization of Orthodox journalists was taken on principle. It was decided to meet in an expanded format next year.

Better to see once

You can't express everything in words. But there is something more important. A distinctive feature of Polish Orthodoxy is the special burning of people's hearts, firm standing in the faith and acceptance of the life of the Church as a personal life with all the joys and troubles. And one more thing: here, in all manifestations of church life, the participation of youth is noticeable. And wherever you meet a young man or a girl - in a church, at a meeting with a bishop, in a monastery or at a tournament of Orthodox basketball teams - you will not see indifferent faces: everything is serious here. In modern Poland, to be Orthodox means to testify to one's faith, and this is the destiny of courageous souls.

Pavel Bubnov

Opinions

“I first came to Poland in the eighth grade. I lived with an Orthodox Polish family for about a month and went with them to services in an Orthodox church. I was struck by the abundance of youth in the temple and the words of the priest's sermon. This made a revolution in my soul and significantly determined my future path in the Church.”

Vladimir Asadchiy,
3rd year student of MinDA

“In the summer of 2002, I participated in a seminar for Orthodox youth at the Suprasl Monastery. I spent almost a week in the monastery, participating in the singing of the monastic choir and sharing with the brethren both labor and meal. These days will forever remain in my memory.

Sergei Orlov,
4th year student of MinDS

“The Poles have a vivid sense of Orthodoxy. For them, it's really something special. They have to make active efforts to preserve their faith in the environment of the Catholic majority.

The collection includes 85 reports of the forum participants who spoke at the plenary session, six thematic sections, and also presented their messages in the absentee participation section.

As part of the event, speeches were made by ecclesiastical and secular researchers aimed at comprehending the tragic history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th century.

Poland(Polish Polska), official name - Republic of Poland(Polish Rzeczpospolita Polska) is a state in Eastern (Central) Europe. The population, according to the results of the 2012 census, is more than 38.5 million people, the territory is 312,679 km². It ranks thirty-sixth in the world in terms of population and sixty-ninth in terms of territory.

The capital is Warsaw. The official language is Polish.

Largest cities

• Warsaw
• Lodz
• Krakow
• Wroclaw
• Poznan

Orthodoxy in Poland

Orthodoxy in Poland- the second largest religious denomination after Catholicism.

Christianity on the territory of modern Poland appeared with the penetration of Christianity in the VIII century. After the conclusion of the Union of Kreva (1385) and the adoption of the unions, especially the Union of Brest (1596), and the subsequent oppression by the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church found itself in a difficult situation and until the entry of these territories into the Russian Empire was not numerous. After Poland gained independence, in 1924, the autocephaly of the Polish Orthodox Church was obtained, but the Polish government began to persecute the Orthodox: hundreds of churches were destroyed, including the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Warsaw. After the Second World War, the position of the Orthodox Church in Poland stabilized, although due to the withdrawal of Volhynia to the Ukrainian SSR (which entailed the inclusion of the relevant dioceses in the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church), it became smaller in number. Today there are 6 Orthodox dioceses in Poland with 11 bishops, 27 deans, 250 parishes and 10 monasteries. Headed by Polish Orthodox Church Metropolitan Savva (Grytsuniak) of Warsaw.

Story

The advent of Christianity

In the territories that are part of modern Poland, Christianity penetrated from different directions: from the southwest - the Great Moravian Principality, from the west - the German lands and from the east - Kievan Rus. It is quite natural that the Polish lands, as adjacent to Great Moravia, were affected by the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius. With the expansion of the Moravian Principality, Silesia, Krakow and Lesser Poland became part of the Veligrad diocese.

In 966, the Polish prince Mieszko I adopted Christianity, followed by the baptism of the people. According to legend, Mieszko first adopted Christianity of the Eastern Greco-Slavic rite, but after his marriage to Princess Dubravka, Latin influence increased in Poland.

By the time of the Baptism of Rus' on the earth west side the Buga rivers, where the cities of Kholm and Przemysl are located, were part of the Kyiv principality. In these parts, Christianity increased its influence simultaneously with its spread in other Russian lands. In the 11th century in Western Rus' two independent principalities arose - Galicia and Volyn, which at the end of the 12th century were united into a single Galicia-Volyn.

First Orthodox Department

In the XIII century, under Prince Daniel Romanovich, the Galicia-Volyn principality reaches its power. In his capital - Kholm - through the efforts of the prince, an Orthodox episcopal department was founded. The children and grandchildren of Prince Daniel remained faithful to Orthodoxy, but in the second quarter of the 14th century, the family of the Galicia-Volyn princes in the male line died out. Two Galician princesses were married to Lithuanian and Mazovian princes. Volyn fell into the possession of the Lithuanian prince Lubart, who professed Orthodoxy, but with Galicia it was different. The son of the Prince of Mazovia, Yuri II Boleslav, was raised by his mother in Orthodoxy, but later converted to Catholicism. Having become the Prince of Galicia, according to the instructions of the Pope of Rome, he oppresses the Orthodox.

Deterioration of the position of the Orthodox Church

After the death of Boleslav, the Polish king Casimir the Great became his successor. IN mid-XIV century, he took possession of Galicia. Volyn, despite the pope's calls for a crusade against the "schismatics", the Lithuanian prince Lubart managed to defend. After the accession of the Galician and Kholm lands to the Polish possessions, the position of the Orthodox here deteriorated markedly. The Orthodox population was subjected to various kinds of discrimination, the possibility of trade and handicraft activities was complicated.

After the entry of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagiello into marriage with the Polish Queen Jadwiga, the beginning of the unification of the Polish kingdom and the Lithuanian principality was laid. One of the conditions of marriage was the transition of the Lithuanian prince to Catholicism. Back in 1385, Jagiello officially renounced Orthodoxy, and a year after the marriage, in 1387, he declared the Roman Catholic faith dominant in Lithuania. Soon the persecution of the Orthodox began. The biggest violence took place in Galicia. In Przemysl, the Catholics were given Orthodox Cathedral. At the Seimas of 1413, which confirmed the unification of Lithuania with Poland, a decree was issued on the exclusion of the Orthodox from the highest government positions.

Orthodoxy in the period of the unions

In 1458, the Uniate Patriarch of Constantinople Gregory Mamma, who was in Rome, installed Gregory, who had once been a protodeacon with Metropolitan Isidore, as the Lithuanian-Galician metropolitan. Gregory tried to establish a union in his metropolis and began persecuting the Orthodox clergy, but did not find support from the Polish king and in 1469 he himself joined Orthodoxy. The Jagiellons, however, did not want to patronize Orthodoxy and willingly curtailed its rights and weakened the financial situation of the Orthodox Church and believers.

In the XV and XVI centuries in areas that are now part of the Lublin, Bialystok and Ryaszew voivodeships, most of the population professed the Orthodox faith, or, as it was called in official documents, “Russian faith”, “Greek law”.

In the Union of Lublin in 1569, the political program of the Seim of Horodil was completed. If, by the way, Poland and Lithuania were only in a confederal union and had their own differences in governance, then the Union of Lublin destroyed the independence of the Principality of Lithuania. The Orthodox population of Belarus and Western Ukraine, which ended up as part of Poland, began to feel systematic oppression from Catholicism. Especially hard time for the Orthodox Church was the reign of the Polish king Sigismund III. This pupil of the Jesuits, imbued with extreme Catholic views, placed above all the interests of the See of Rome.

There was a difficult situation with Orthodox hierarchy. Until the end of the 16th century, most of it, headed by Metropolitan of Kyiv Michael (Rogoza) accepted the union proclaimed at the Brest Cathedral in 1596 and recognized the authority of the Bishop of Rome over herself. But Orthodox believers mostly did not accept and came to the defense of the Orthodox Church. At present, many polemical works are being created aimed at protecting the purity of faith from encroachments on the part of heterodoxy and, above all, the Roman Catholic Church. Orthodox church brotherhoods played a very important role in defending Orthodoxy from the spreaders of the union. Special mention should be made of the Lviv and Vilna Orthodox brotherhoods, which were close-knit unions of the urban population. According to the adopted statutes, the brotherhood considered its main business to be the opening and maintenance of religious schools, the training of educated Orthodox youth, the creation of printing houses and the publication of necessary books. However, the forces in the fight against the advancing Catholicism were unequal. The Orthodox brotherhoods, having lost the support of the nobility, who converted to Catholicism, gradually reduced their activities.

XVII-XVIII centuries

Until the end of the 16th century, Catholics considered the majority of the Orthodox population of the present-day eastern regions of Poland to be Uniate. From the second decade of the 18th century, for the entire Orthodox population of Western Ukraine, which was part of Poland, only one Orthodox bishop remained - the Belarusian one. The Great Sejm of 1788-1792, which proclaimed, among other things, religious freedom, did not make significant changes to the position of the Orthodox in Poland.

At the end of the 18th century, Greek Orthodox merchants came to Poland, settled here and sought to support Orthodoxy. However, the authorities did not allow them to equip churches, so services were held in prayer houses. Priests were invited from Bukovina, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece.

In the Russian Empire

The situation changed radically after the accession of the Polish lands to the Russian Empire (1795 - the third partition of Poland; 1814-1815 - the decision of the Congress of Vienna). The position of the Orthodox in the lands that became part of the empire immediately improved without any special measures. Persecution, forced conversions to the union, and anti-Orthodox propaganda have ceased. Most of the parishes in the lands annexed to the Russian Empire formed one diocese, which in 1793 received the name Minsk. The number of Orthodox began to increase due to the return of the Uniates to Orthodoxy. In some places, for example, in the then Bratslav province, this return took place quite quickly and calmly. In 1834, the vicariate of the Volyn diocese was founded in Warsaw, and in 1840 an independent diocese was founded. The bishop of Warsaw is elevated to the rank of archbishop of Warsaw and Novogeorgievsk, and since 1875 (after the conversion of the Kholmsky Uniates) of Kholmsko-Warsaw. In 1905, an independent Kholmsky diocese was allocated.

In the Polish state

After the First World War, in 1918, the Polish state was revived. According to the Riga Treaty of 1921, Western Belarus and Western Ukraine became part of Poland. In connection with the new political situation, the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate in September 1921 appointed the former Archbishop of Minsk Georgy (Yaroshevsky) to the Warsaw cathedra, who in January of the following year was elevated to the rank of metropolitan. The Church in Poland was simultaneously granted the right of autonomy.

In 1922, with the support of the state authorities, the Council of Orthodox Bishops in Poland, which took place in Warsaw, strongly spoke out in favor of establishing the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Poland. Metropolitan Georgy (Yaroshevsky), Bishops Dionysius (Valedinsky) and Alexander (Inozemtsev) were in favor, while the pro-Russian Archbishop Eleutherius (Bogoyavlensky) and Bishop Vladimir (Tikhonitsky) were against.

On February 8, 1923, an extraordinary event occurred in the life of the Polish Orthodox Church - Archimandrite Smaragd (Latyshenko), the former rector of the Volyn Theological Seminary, removed from office and banned from serving by Metropolitan Georgy (Yaroshevsky), killed the metropolitan with a revolver shot. Two days after this tragic event, the duties of Metropolitan and Chairman of the Holy Synod were taken over by Archbishop Dionysius (Veledinsky) of Volyn and Kremenets, and on February 27 of the same year, by the Council of Orthodox Bishops of Poland, he was elected Metropolitan of Warsaw. The assassination increased anti-Russian and pro-autocephalous sentiments in the Polish Church, and the hierarchy began full-fledged negotiations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Granting autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Poland

On March 13, 1923, Patriarch Meletios IV of Constantinople confirmed Metropolitan Dionisy (Valedinsky) in this rank of primate and recognized him as the title of Metropolitan of Warsaw and Volhynia and of the entire Orthodox Church in Poland and Hieroarchimandrite of the Pochaev Dormition Lavra. Metropolitan Dionisy appealed to Patriarch Gregory VII of Constantinople with a request to bless and approve the autocephaly of the Polish Orthodox Church, and then inform all the heads of local Orthodox churches about this. On November 13, 1924, three days before his death, Patriarch Gregory VII signed the Patriarchal and Synodal Tomos of the Patriarchate of Constantinople recognizing the Orthodox Church in Poland as autocephalous. However, the official proclamation of autocephaly was delayed by almost a year due to problems in the Patriarchate of Constantinople after the death of Gregory VII. His successor, Constantine VI, was expelled from Constantinople by the Turkish authorities at the end of January 1925, and the patriarchal see remained free until July of that year. The newly elected Patriarch Vasily III informed Metropolitan Dionysius in August that next month he would send a delegation to Warsaw and bring the Tomos of autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Poland. In mid-September, representatives of the Constantinople and Romanian churches arrived in Warsaw, and on September 17, in their presence, as well as in the presence of the entire episcopate of Poland, representatives of the dioceses, the Warsaw flock and members of the government, the solemn announcement of the Patriarchal Tomos took place in the Metropolitan Church of St. Mary Magdalene. The autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Poland was recognized at that time by all local and autonomous churches, with the exception of the Russian Orthodox Church.

New wave of persecution

Based on the concordat signed in 1927 by the Polish government and the Pope of Rome, which recognized Catholicism as the dominant religion in Poland, Roman Catholics in 1930 filed a lawsuit to return Orthodox churches, shrines, and other church property that once belonged to the Catholic Church. A lawsuit was brought against 700 church objects, among them were such Orthodox shrines like the Pochaev Lavra and many other monasteries, Kremenets and Lutsk cathedrals, ancient temples. The basis for such claims by the Catholics was the position that the mentioned church objects once belonged to the Greek Catholics, but were transferred by the government of the Russian Empire to the Orthodox. At this time, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Warsaw, painted by Viktor Vasnetsov and other Russian artists, was destroyed (built in 1892-1912, it could accommodate up to 3,000 believers). Soon Poland was flooded with Jesuits and representatives of other Catholic orders. At the same time, under the pressure of the government, the Polonization of spiritual education, office work and worship took place.

By the time of the proclamation of the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Poland, there were two theological seminaries - in Vilna and Kremenets, and several theological male and female schools. In February 1925, a higher theological educational institution was opened - the Orthodox Theological Faculty at Warsaw University.

At the end of 1936 there were disturbing symptoms of a new attack on the Orthodox Church. This year, in connection with the 300th anniversary of the death of the Greek Catholic Metropolitan Velyamin Rutsky, a congress of the Greek Catholic clergy gathered in the city of Lvov. The honorary chairman of the congress was the Greek Catholic Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (died in 1944). It was decided that for the Ukrainian people best form Churchness is its union with Rome, so the UGCC should receive complete freedom for missionary activities among Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians living in Poland (see the article by Neouniy).

The continuation of the program outlined by the congress was the publication on May 25, 1937 of a new instruction for the introduction of the "Eastern Rite". In this instruction, attention was paid to the fact that the Vatican gives great importance“the return of the Orthodox to the faith of the fathers,” and meanwhile, work in this direction is proceeding slowly and with little success. As a result, in 1938, in the Kholmshchyna and Podlasie, Orthodox churches were not only closed, but also destroyed. About one hundred and fifty churches and prayer houses were destroyed. More than 200 clergymen and clergy found themselves unemployed, deprived of their livelihood. The Polish press did not talk about such atrocities, but some time before these events, appropriate preparations were made in the Kholmshchyna and Podlasie. So, in the Polish newspapers there were reports that in the Kholm region and in some other cities there are many Orthodox churches built by the tsarist Russian government with the intention of Russifying the region. These temples were exhibited as monuments of slavery, so they need to be destroyed. No Orthodox protests, including the appeals of Metropolitan Dionysius (Valedinsky) to senior officials, helped.

The Second World War

September 1, 1939 began the Second World War. Less than a month later, German tanks were already on the streets of Warsaw. The eastern regions of Poland were occupied by the Soviet Union. Poland was thus divided between the USSR and Germany. On the territory of former Poland, which was occupied by Germany, the so-called General Government was created, in which there were three dioceses: Warsaw, Kholm and Krakow. The lands occupied by Soviet troops in 1939-1941 became part of the Minsk diocese. Also in the USSR was the diocese of Volyn. Here, as elsewhere in the USSR, the Orthodox Church was oppressed by the state.

Not only Catholics and the military were taken to Soviet camps, but also the faithful of the Orthodox Church, and with them the clergy. Spiritual life changed during the German occupation. The Germans sought to destroy the communist ideology and, in this regard, allowed the opening of previously closed churches. Ukrainian bishops of the Polish Orthodox Church, headed by Metropolitan Polikarp (Sikorsky), began to operate on the territory of Ukraine. This structure is traditionally called the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, although there was no formal declaration of autocephaly, the episcopate considered itself part of the former Polish Orthodox Church (which, after the liquidation of the state of Poland, ceased to use the word "Polish" in its name). In parallel, structures of the Moscow Patriarchate remained here - the Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church.

post-war period

After World War II, the autocephaly of the Polish Orthodox Church was recognized by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on June 22, 1948. Archbishop Timothy (Schrötter) became the primate, from 1951 to 1961 - Metropolitan Macarius. In 1949, three dioceses were founded: Warsaw, Bialystok-Gdansk and Lodz-Wroclaw. In connection with the migration of people from the east to the center and to the west of Poland, a new division of the dioceses was carried out. By 1952, there were four dioceses in the Polish Orthodox Church: Warsaw-Bielsk, Bialystok-Gdansk, Łódź-Poznań, and Wrocław-Szczecin. In 1983, the Przemysl-Novosonchensk diocese was restored, and in 1989, the Lublin-Kholm diocese.

The Saints

• St. svshmch. Maxim Gorlitsky
• St. svshmch. Grigory (Peradze)
• Holy New Martyrs Kholmsky and Podlyashsky
• St. svshmch. Maxim Sandovich
• St. mch. Gabriel Belostotsky

shrines

relics of saints and miraculous icons in Poland are found in churches and monasteries of the Roman Catholic Church and the Polish Orthodox Church.

S. GRABARKA (in Melnitskaya Pushcha, near the town of Siemiatycze - Polish. Siemiatycze):

• Holy mountain Grabarka.

Czestochowa. Catholic Monastery of Jasna Góra:

• original "Czestochowa" Icon of the Mother of God.

S. GIDLE (25 km north of Częstochowa). catholic temple Assumption of the Virgin Mary:

• the original of the “Gidlyanskaya” (“Gidelskaya”) icon of the Mother of God.

CRAKOW. Catholic Church of St. Barbara:

• original "Yurovichi" icon of the Mother of God.

WROCLAW. Catholic Church of St. Wojciech.

Date of creation: 1948 Description:

Historical reference

The beginning of the spread of Christianity in the territory of modern Poland was laid in the middle of the 10th century by Prince Mieszko I. In the 13th century. Orthodox episcopal sees were opened in Kholm and Przemysl. Christianity of the Eastern tradition dominated the Polish lands until the end of the 14th century, when it began to be replaced by Catholicism. Until the 19th century, Orthodox dioceses on the territory of present-day Poland were part of the Kievan Metropolis. In 1840 an independent diocese of Warsaw was formed. In 1875, the Uniate Kholm diocese, transformed into the Lublin vicariate (since 1905, an independent Kholm diocese), became part of it. In connection with the proclamation in 1918 of an independent Polish state by decree His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, the Orthodox Church in Poland in 1921 was granted "broad local autonomy." In mid-June 1922, Metropolitan George (Yaroshevsky) of Warsaw, under pressure from the Polish government, took steps aimed at creating an autocephalous Church in Poland. In 1924 Patriarch of Constantinople Gregory VII signed Tomos No. 4588 on the establishment of an autocephalous Orthodox Church in Poland. This autocephaly was not recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

In the 1920s and 30s as part of the Polonization policy, more than half of the Orthodox churches were destroyed or confiscated, was demolished Cathedral St. Alexander Nevsky, on the site of which today is the Monument to the Unknown Soldier.

In June 1948, a delegation headed by Archbishop Timofey of Bialystok and Belsk addressed the Russian Church with a request to establish a canonical autocephalous Orthodox Church in Poland. On June 22, 1948, the "Act on the reunification of the Polish Orthodox Church with the Russian Orthodox Church and on granting her autocephaly" was signed.

Dioceses of the Polish Church

Today, the Polish Orthodox Church has 6 dioceses in Poland:

• Warsaw;
• Bialystok;
• Lodz;
• Przemyslskaya;
• Wroclaw;
• Lublin.

In addition to Poland, the Polish Church has two dioceses in Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and Recife.

The Orthodox Ordinariate of the Polish Church has a special status (headed by George, Bishop of Semyatichsky, Supreme Orthodox Ordinariate of the Polish Army).

The number of parishes of the Polish Church in 2012 is 237 (226 in Poland, 11 abroad), the number of clergy is about 420 people, the number of believers is about 500 thousand.

Monasteries

There are 13 monasteries under the jurisdiction of the Polish Church: 11 in Poland, 2 in Brazil. The most famous monasteries: stauropegial monastery St. Onuphrius in Yablechna, Suprasl Annunciation Monastery, Marfo-Mariinsky Convent on Mount Grabarka.

spiritual education

The system of higher spiritual education of the Polish Church includes 3 educational institutions: the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Warsaw, the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw, and the Department of Orthodox Theology at the University of Bialystok. In addition, there is an iconographic school in Poland, as well as a school for psalm readers and church choir directors.

It is a well-known fact that the Poles, for the most part, are representatives of the Catholic Church. In the countries of the former Soviet Union one can often hear such a question: “Is he Orthodox or a Pole”? Perhaps due to the fact that Poland is a neighboring state and our history is closely intertwined, we associate it with Catholicism, completely forgetting about many other Catholic countries.

Today, as proof that many people of the Orthodox faith live on the territory of the Republic of Poland, we will talk about some churches that are popular among parishioners.

Cathedral of Nicholas the Wonderworker in Bialystok

It is the Podlaskie Voivodeship that is famous for the fact that half of the population are representatives of the Orthodox Church. Orthodox holidays are revered here, and the winter holidays in educational institutions and state institutions do not end in the first days of January, but continue until 9.

One of the most beautiful and famous churches in Bialystok is located at Lipowa 15. The majestic Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built in 1843-1846, the project of which was drawn up in St. Petersburg by the Commission of Projects and Estimates. The new temple was consecrated by a well-known church leader, Archbishop of Lithuania and Vilna Joseph (Semashko), a fighter against the union. In 1910, during the repair of the temple, the artist Mikhail Avilov painted the interiors in the Vasnetsov style (the image of the Resurrected Savior in the High Place has been preserved).

Nikolsky Cathedral is a good example of late classicism. A massive helmet-shaped dome rises above its main volume on a high light drum. Above the entrance is a single-tier bell tower. The architectural design is modest. The temple is painted white, gilded and decorated with rich carvings. The icons of the royal doors were painted in 1844 by the artist Malakhov.

The main shrine of the temple is the incorruptible relics of the infant martyr Gabriel of Bialystok (Zabludovsky), transferred on September 22, 1992 from the cathedral in Grodno in Belarus.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in Lublin

The temple was built in 1607-1633. on the site of two earlier churches. The construction of the cathedral dragged on for a long 26 years, the reason for which was the religious conflicts that prevailed in those days in Lublin. However, in 1633 the king of Poland was Vladislav IV Vasa, who confirmed the right of the Orthodox community to own the church in Lublin. The king helped the community by granting a number of important privileges, including excluding the church from the jurisdiction of the Uniates.

But still, in 1695 the temple was again under the control of the Uniates. The Lublin parish returned to the Orthodox Church only in 1875, after the liquidation of the Uniate archdiocese of Kholmsk.

The Transfiguration Cathedral is the main one in the Lublin-Kholmsky diocese of the Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church and the seat of the Preobrazhensky deanery of Lublin. Located on ul. Ruskiej.

During the First World War, all valuable icons were taken from the church to Moscow and never returned to Lublin. After the restoration of Polish independence, they wanted to close the cathedral, but nevertheless, they abandoned this idea.

It is surprising that for all its difficult history, the temple is still open and popular among parishioners. An important fact: in February 1960, the Transfiguration Cathedral was included in the register of monuments in Poland.

Orthodox Church of Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sofia in Sosnowiec

The temple is located in Sosnowiec, on Jana Kilińskiego 39, next to the railway station of the Warsaw-Vienna line. It is the administrative center of one of the two Orthodox parishes covering the territory of the current Silesian Voivodeship.

The church was built in a rather short period of time. August 15, 1888 the first stone was laid, and already on November 28, 1889, the church was consecrated by Bishop Flavian of Ljubljana.

The temple was built of brick, in the Byzantine style. Consists of five parts. The central part is covered with a lovely dome. Inside there is a delightful, more than a century old iconostasis.

By the way, the church has its own website, where you can learn more about the history of the temple, calendar Orthodox holidays, as well as see the date and time of worship.

Contrary to stereotypes, Poland is still not a completely Catholic state. Today, there are 6 Orthodox dioceses in Poland with 11 bishops, 27 deans, 250 parishes and 10 monasteries. The head of the Polish Orthodox Church is Metropolitan Savva (Grytsuniak) of Warsaw.

If you are planning a trip to Poland soon, or even a move, do not worry. Here, just like at home, you can go to church on weekends and religious holidays.