SHORT-TERM MISSION OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS IN STRYI (1904–1905)

Abstract

After a brief ban in 1848–1852, the Society of Jesus restored its activities in the Lviv Archdiocese. The order not only returned to its centers in Ternopil and Lviv during the second half of the 19th century, but also intensified missionary activity in Stanislaviv, Chernivtsi and Kolomyia, where it managed to collect donations and, with the help of local authorities, successfully organize the construction of three large churches. The article notes, that at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Jesuits received an invitation from Lviv Archbishop Józef Bilczewski to start a mission to Stryi, because the Catholic clergy, together with the city authorities, were interested in building of a new large church for the city, because the presence of one temple was not enough to properly meet the spiritual needs of the population with the Latin rite. The Society of Jesus had two tasks: to organize the collection of donations and the construction of the temple, as well as to engage in pastoral work, primarily among local workers. Such a specific direction of spiritual work was connected with the spread of socialist ideas among the working class in Galicia, and Catholic Church had to respond to contemporary social problems, especially since socialist slogans contained anti-clerical elements. The Society of Jesus arrived in the city in January 1904, but at the end of October 1905, the leadership of the order decided to end the mission. The article examines the stay of the Society of Jesus in Stryi at that time, highlights the activities of the Jesuits in the city. Keywords: Society of Jesus, Jesuits, Stryi, Lviv Archdiocese, Roman Catholic Church.