Christian Social Ethics in Ukraine: The Legacy of Andrei Sheptytsky

Myroslav Shkandrij is head of the Department of German and Slavic
Studies at the University of Manitoba and editor of The Cultural
Renaissance in Ukraine: Polemical Pamphlets, 1925–1926.

Andrei Sheptytsky (1865–1945) headed the Ukrainian Catholic Church in
Galicia during the first half of this century. This account of his
writing and thought focuses on his application of Christian social
ethics to such issues as nationalism, communism, and church–state
relations. It draws on Sheptytsky’s pastoral letters, writings, and
correspondence in order to chart the development of the Metropolitan’s
views over a number of dramatic and tragic moments in history.

The study is comprehensive in that it covers Sheptytsky’s opinions
from the pre–World War I period, and groundbreaking in that it
provides the first systematic study of his ethical thought, elaborates
the sociopolitical contexts, and offers authoritative explanations for
his key statements. Krawchuk remains focused throughout on how the
Catholic Church’s social teachings were applied in an East European
church. His study gives an often fascinating account of how a principled
and deeply religious figure struggled to chart a course for his
congregation during a time of tumultuous and often horrifying events.

Sheptytsky’s espousal of a “Christian patriotism” and his
condemnation of chauvinism and extreme nationalism are well described
and documented, as is his opposition to communism. The most
controversial period is that of the Nazi occupation, in which the
Metropolitan’s opinions moved from accommodation to criticism and
resistance. Although the author’s account of these years will not
satisfy all readers—in large part because of its tenuous conclusions
(Krawchuk feels that some issues still await serious
investigation)—his scrupulous presentation of evidence is admirable
and his situating of the writings from this period within Sheptytsky’s
overall pattern of ethical thought is convincing.

Meticulously researched and documented throughout, Christian Social
Ethics in Ukraine is an important contribution to Catholic studies and a
valuable resource for students of the region’s sociopolitical history.
An exhaustive bibliography of Sheptytsky’s published works is
included.