On March 8-10, 1946, the security agencies of the USSR organized in Lviv a so-called "Council" of members of the initiative group, at which two-thirds of the participants were NKGB agents and which announced the abolition of the Brest Union of 1596, a break with the Vatican and "reunification" with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Source: Департамент інформації УГКЦ
Not being recognized either by the Vatican, or by the bishops of the UGCC imprisoned back in 1945, nor by a significant part of the clergy, the Lviv Pseudo-Council marked the beginning of forced liquidation, life in the underground and more than forty years of struggle of Greek Catholics for the revival of their Church.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of these dramatic events. On this occasion, the UGCC will hold various events. "We recall a very painful event in the history of our Church of the twentieth century: its forced liquidation. 75 years of the Lviv Pseudo-Council have passed, when the Stalinist regime, with the help of a registered event, declared that our Church "liquidated itself". This story still has different interpretations and has not been fully investigated," His Beatitude Sviatoslav, head of the UGCC, said in a comment for the Information Department.
Speaking about the purpose of the celebrations, he explained that "we remember in order to prevent." "The memory of the victims of the Lviv Pseudo-Council is a memory that heals and heals. On the other hand, it is the memory that prevents. If we forget about these events, they can be repeated with any church, community, or person who dares to stand up to the system and declare to the world and people who it really is. In particular, when it comes to a person who will tell the world that he believes in God and wants to live in accordance with the traditions and faith of his parents. Therefore, we remember to prevent, reveal the truth more and thus treat our wounds," the head of the UGCC said.
The following events will be held this week:
On March 3, at 16:00, watch "live broadcast with His Beatitude Sviatoslav" on air. Its theme is the Lviv "Council" of 1946. The Head of the UGCC will be interviewed by Dr. Oleg Turiy, director of the Institute of Church History of UCU.
On March 4, at 10: 00, the International scientific conference "Lviv Council of 1946: Historical Context and Modern Assessment" will begin. It is organized by the Institute of church history and the Kyiv center of UCU. We invite you to watch the live broadcast on the "Live TV" channel on YouTube and on your Facebook page.
March 5 at 11:00 in the National Museum of the history of Ukraine in World War II (Lavrska, 27) the opening of the documentary exhibition "Nothing secret that would not become clear" will take place.
On March 5, the opening of the poster exhibition "To the light of Resurrection through the Thorns of the Catacombs" will take place at 14:00 in Kyiv, on Kontraktova square.
On March 7, at 13:30, the exhibition "Nothing secret that would not become clear" will be presented at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the resurrection of Christ of the UGCC (Mykilsko-Slobodska, 5)