From 1946 to 1989 the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) was the largest forbidden religious community in the world and suffered many terrible ordeals. In his report on the 35th anniversary of the beginning of religious persecution, Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, head of the UGCC, called his church “the Church of the martyrs.”


Contents of the exhibition:

The Structure of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

1945-1946 Liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church by the State

1945-1957 Stalinist Repression. Religious along with believers sent into exile.

1956-1989 The Church in the underground

Bishops and religious in the underground
Monastic communities and formation
Religious life of believers
Liturgies in the underground


1987-1990 Legalization of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

An Open Letter by a group of Ukrainian Catholics from Ukraine concerning their emergence from the underground


Taken from the archives of the Institute of Church History



ICH exhibitions The Structure of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church