The Role of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytskyi in the Formation of Ukrainian National Identity

Abstract

The article examines the main statehood ideas and views of the socio-political and Church figure, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi’s contribution to the struggle for the establishment of an independent, united Ukrainian state. The impact of the Metropolitan’s activity as the hierarch of the Greek Catholic Church on the Ukrainian national spiritual revival in Ukraine (at the end of the 19th to middle 20th century) is clarified as the solid foundation which was laid by his ecumenical ideas. The judgment of A. Sheptytskyi regarding the necessary prerequisites for building a strong, independent Ukraine, and his ideas about reforming state authorities, the Church, and educational institutions, are explained. The Metropolitan’s vision for the role of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the process of the Ukrainian statehood formation is highlighted. Public organizations created with his support and direct participation became the basis for the formation of civil society, which, in its religious morality did not succumb to any influence of party radicalism and extremism. It is established that the support of state interests for the Ukrainian people was based on cooperation with the centrist and right-wing political parties of Galicia. As a result of the analysis of A. Sheptytskyi’s pastoral messages, it is concluded that he laid the foundations of national political culture and clearly outlined the concept of patriotism and the principles of public and political service. The Metropolitan’s thoughts on the influence of religion on the formative process on the national identity of the Ukrainian people, and the need to form a single local church in Ukraine, are explained. A. Sheptytskyi was a far-sighted and flexible religious figure; he used his position primarily for the good of the Church and the people. Under his leadership, the Church became the national, Ukrainian church.