Apostolski egzarchat grekokatolicki w Republice Czeskiej. Kościół rusiński, słowacki, czeski i ukraiński
The Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate in the Czech Republic: The Ruthenian, Slovakian, Czech and Ukrainian Churches

Summary/Abstract: The article investigates the contemporary Greek Catholic Church in the Czech Republic. The Greek Catholic communities both in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia commonly refer to the cyrilomethodian tradition, the origins of which are best viewed from their genesis in the act of Uzhhorod Union in 1646. The Greek Catholic Church in the Czech territory did not take on an institutionalized form, however, until the interwar period when many Slovaks and Ruthenians (Ukrainians) from the Subcarpathian Rus, now known as Carpathian Ruthenia, as well as Ukrainians from Galicia and Russians, started to settle in Prague and other main urban centers. The Greek Catholic Church in the Czech and Slovak territories not only satisfied the religious needs of its worshippers, it also performed an important role in shaping and strengthening cultural and national identity of its members, especially those of Ruthenian nationality. The negative consequence of this fact was both using the Church to manipulate the nation-building processes and its liquidation after WWII in the aftermath of the struggle against all manifestations of Ruthenism / Ruthenian national identity. On the other hand, the Church proved it was able to preserve its multicultural character. The authors advance a thesis that acknowledges that the Greek Catholic Church in the Czech Republic has a multicultural character, that is also Ruthenian, Slovakian, Czech and Ukrainian, as is reflected in the second part of the title of the article.

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