PARTICIPATION OF THE GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF GALICIA AT THE END OF THE 19th – THE FIRST THIRD OF THE 20th CENTURIES

Abstract

The role of the Greek Catholic Church in the economic development of Galicia in the late 19th – the first third of the 20th centuries has been researched. The participation of the Greek Catholic clergy in the creation and operation of the workers’ associations («Silskyi Hospodar» («The Farmer»)), cooperatives («Narodna Torhivlia» («The People's Trade»), «Dostava» («The Delivery»), «Khlibosoiuz» («The Bread Union»), the Auditing Union of the Ukrainian Cooperatives), private enterprises («Fortuna Nova»), financial and banking institutions («Dnister», «Carpathia», the Mortgage Land Bank), vocational schools (the Private Cooperative Lyceum in Lviv, the Ukrainian Husbandry Academy in Poděbrady, Agricultural Schools in Stryi and Myluvannia) and social organizations (the Society of the Ukrainian Artisans, Entrepreneurs and Traders «Zoria») has been analyzed. The clergy acquired and popularized economic knowledge and skills, supported the activities of private economic educational institutions; the Basilian Sisters organized a vocational school at the monastery in Lviv has been noted. Due to Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky’s initiative, the Greek Catholic Church in Galicia, possessing significant area of lands, managed to implement many successful economic projects and attract foreign investors in the interests of the Church and Ukrainian people has been established. Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky urged the Ukrainians to unite in unions, cooperatives, taught austerity, economic literacy and entrepreneurship so that Galicia could rely on the experience of the developed European countries has been noted. An important contribution to the economic development of Galicia was made by the General Administrator of the GCC lands, Doctor of Agronomy, Reverend-Mitered Archpriest Tyt Wojnarowśkyj, who wrote many economic works, participated in the parcelling of lands, initiated the creation of the parcelling society «Zemlia» («The Earth») has been emphasized. Many other clergymen were involved in the processes of socio-economic modernization of the Galician peasantry, in particular Reverend Stepan Horodetsky, Reverend Teodor Tsehelsky, Reverend Lev Horalevych and many others has been noted. Keywords Greek Catholic Church, clergy, clergymen, Galicia, economy, economic development, Andrei Sheptytsky, Tyt Wojnarowśkyj.