National minorities in the Catholic Church. Byelorussia and Ukraine

Abstract

The Church’s teaching and legislation concerning the pastorate of ethnic groups and national minorities was already established in ancient times. Recently, because of millions of people migrating from almost all the countries of the world and in connection with ever stronger aspirations of national minorities to maintain their identity, it has become especially abundant. Pope John Paul II’s teaching has an important place here. In the Catholic Church in Byelorussia and Ukraine Polish national minorities constitute an overwhelming majority of the congregation. Until the late 1980s Catholics of Byelorussian and Ukrainian origin did not reveal their denomination.

Introducing Polish, and soon afterwards also Byelorussian, Ukrainian, and sometimes Russian into the liturgy to replace Latin, was a historical breakthrough. It also initiated a change in the stereotype identifying the Catholic Church of the Western rite with Poland and Poles, and its de-Polonization in the liturgy in the mentioned countries. As far as the culture and the language is concerned the Polish character of this Church resulted from the fact that a great majority of its congregation was of Polish nationality. Introducing new languages showed its supranational character, but it also involved imposing a limit, or in some areas partial or complete elimination of the Polish language from the liturgy. The Polish identity without the support of the Polish language in religion and in the Church loses its most profound basis, stops being an emotional value and may be treated instrumentally. The present situation connected with the use of various languages in the East is different in various places. It depends on the geographical situation of the parish, on the national option of the priest, on understanding and respect given to the spiritual needs of the congregation and on the number of Poles in the community.

Despite accepting and ratifying international treaties that safeguard the rights of national minorities, state authorities very often in one way or another try to assimilate them, using a lot of different ways to this aim.