Ostpolitik of the Vatican, Moscow, and the 'Uniats' in the Cold War Context

• In Event: Forced Conversion Reconsidered: New Perspectives on the "Reunification" of Ukrainian Greek Catholics with the Russian Orthodox Church: 1940s – 1980s

Abstract

The correlation between the Vatican’s Ostpolitik and the everyday life of illegal (Greek-)Catholics in the USSR is an uncomfortable plot in the history of relation between Moscow and the Vatican, the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. In my paper I show how the ideological struggle and evolution of diplomatic relations during the 1960s – early 1980s correlated with the position of the ‘Uniats’ in Ukraine. I will demonstrate how an ‘Uniat’ factor was interpreted and used in the five-sided relationship: Soviet government – Vatican – Russian Orthodox Church – Greek-Catholics in Diaspora – underground Greek-Catholics and how this changed with the pontificate of John Paul II.

Author

• Nadezhda Beliakova, Institute of World History, RAS (Russia)