Likwidacja Kościoła katolickiego obrządku wschodniego w południowo-zachodnich guberniach Cesarstwa Rosyjskiego za panowania cesarza Mikołaja I (lata 30. XІX wieku)
Liquidation of the Catholic Church of the Eastern Rite in the Southwestern Governorates of the Russian Empire during the reign of emperor Nicholas I (1930s)

Summary/Abstract: The article outlines the Russian government’s policy of limiting the field of action of the Eastern Rite Catholic Church (formerly Greek Orthodox or Uniate) and its gradual liquidation in the 1830s, and shows the preparation of the “act of reunification” in 1839. As is well known, in 1794–1796 there was an intensive process of “joining” the Uniates to the Orthodox Church. The period from 1797 to the mid-1920s is characterized by weakening of government pressure on the Eastern Rite Catholic Church. In the second half of the 1820s, the Russian authorities tightened their policy toward the Eastern Rite Catholic Church and began to prepare the ground for its eventual unification with the Orthodox Church. The Uniate hierarchs were also involved in the process of liquidating the Eastern Rite Catholic Church. A special role was played by Lithuanian Bishop Józef Siemaszko. With the help of Belarusian Bishop Wasilij Łużyński and the Bishop of Brest, Vicar of the Diocese of Lithuania Antoni Zubko convened a synod of Uniate bishops and clergy in Polotsk (Połock) in 1839, at which it was decided to “reunite” the Eastern Rite Catholic Church with the Orthodox Church.

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