Financial Situation of the Greek-Catholic Clergy of Eastern Galicia in the Interwar Period

Abstract

The article examines the peculiarities of the material support of the Greek-Catholic clergy of different levels in the conditions of Eastern Galicia under the rule of the Polish Republic. The study focuses on the social and legal conditions in which the GCC was in the interwar period and determines their impact on the financial support of the parish clergy. Particularly important is the analysis of how the Greek-Catholic clergy took care of their own well-being and performed a consolidating function for the financial and economic development of parishes.

The purpose of the study is to analyze the financial situation of the Greek-Catholic clergy, to highlight the income of priests, their participation in the processes of economic development of parishes. The applied methods of analysis, synthesis, generalization and systematization allow us to study the financial situation of the Greek-Catholic clergy of Eastern Galicia in the interwar period.

The results of the study indicate that after the end of the First World War, the Greek-Catholic clergy in Eastern Galicia organized work to restore parish infrastructure, households, etc. The pace of restoration of parish buildings correlated with the level of damage, the motivation of believers to preserve the church center, and the organizational skills of the clergy. In the interwar period, the financial resources of parishes and clergy decreased due to a decrease in the solvency of believers and a decrease in state funding. The Concordat of 1925, concluded between the Holy See and the Polish Republic, created a legal basis for the activities of the Greek-Catholic Church, facilitated the allocation of financial subsidies by the state, and the restoration of parish buildings. The financial situation of the clergy was regulated by orders of the top leadership of the GCC.