Współpraca gregokatolików z międzywojennej Polski i Czechosłowacji na przykładzie Zgromadzenia Sióstr Służebnic Niepokalanej Marii Panny

Abstract

In the interwar period, new state units such as Czechoslovakia and Poland were formed in Central Europe. Churches and their institutions focused on education, training or social care also played an important role in shaping the loyalty and national awareness of the citizens of the new states. Among such institutions was the Congregation of the Sisters of the Servants of the Immaculate Conception (abbreviated as the Maid), which was established in the territory of interwar Poland. In a short time, it was a great success and achieved a response among Greek Catholics in Czechoslovakia. In 1928, at the invitation of the Bishop of Prešov, Pavel Gojdič, four sisters came to Prešov in cooperation with the local Greek Catholic Church to establish a monastery and devote themselves to education, training and social services. The arrival was accompanied by complications with visas from Czechoslovakia. The reason was the Ukrainian environment where the maids came from. In Poland, it was characterized by a high degree of nationalism and the idea of so-called Greater Ukraine, which also included part of Czechoslovakia. Visa permits were issued only after a clear argument from the bishop of Prešov about the apolitical nature of the service of nuns in eastern Slovakia. For his purpose, Bishop Gojdič received the support of the Pope and the Czechoslovak President. The result was the successfully developing ministry of maid sisters, which was stopped only by the onset of the communist regime. The cooperation of Greek Catholics from Poland and Czechoslovakia in the interwar period enabled the nuns to lead the apostolate in the social field of the church, and despite the forced break caused by the communist regime, they continue to do so throughout Slovakia.