Działalność Zgromadzenia Zmartwychwstania Pańskiego na rzecz Unii i Kościoła greckokatolickiego

Abstract

The Congregation of the Resurrection of the Lord (Congregatio Resurrectionis Domini Nostri Jesu Christi) was established among Polish emigrants during the renewal of religious life in the Catholic Church at the beginning of the 19th century. The missionary work among the orthodox Slavs and support for the Union played an important part in its activity. It is the zealous work of the Congregation that made the Apostolic See notice the place of the Uniates and of the Greek-Catholic rite within the universal Church, and became an incentive for active missionary work in the East. Owing to Rev. Hipolit Terlecki’s efforts, in Rome and in Paris were established eastern societies designed to prepare missionaries. Pope Pius IX entrusted the Resurrectionists with the missions of the eastern rite in Bulgaria. In 1880 the Congregation initiated its pastoral activity in Galicia. It set up a Russian Dormitory for the Russian (Ukrainian) youth, the fact which triggered many disputes among the then society of eastern Galicia. The Dormitory’s aim was to take care about and carry out religious formation of the rural students who attended the Lvov secondary schools. The youth, mostly Greek-Catholic, were educated in their own rite and culture. The Russian Dormitory served also the rapprochement between Russians and Poles, a process which was very important during the Polish-Ukrainian political discords in East Galicia. The fact that the Congregation had reached its aims was testified by numerous letters of the former students of the Dormitory to their teachers - the Resurrection Fathers. The letters are kept in the Central State Historical Archives in Lvov.