54. Состояние Православия на Юго-Западе. Литовская уния. Митрополит Петр Могила. Подчинение Киевской митрополии Московскому патриарху

Preachers of the Western Church also came to Grand Duke Vladimir, and his answer: “Our fathers did not accept the faith from the pope” - shows that there were attempts on the part of the popes to subjugate the Russians to their power before Vladimir. In the second half of the 11th century, in 1075, Pope Gregory VII offered Grand Duke Izyaslav, expelled from Kyiv, armed assistance to return to Kyiv if he recognized his power; but Izyaslav did not recognize this power and returned to his capital without papal help. At the beginning of the 13th century, 1204, Pope Innocent III promised the Volyn prince Roman to conquer the peoples with the sword of St. Peter; but Roman, pointing to his sword, announced to the pope’s ambassadors that he did not need anything else. In the middle of the same century, in 1253, Pope Innocent IV persuaded Prince Alexander Nevsky to enter the shadow of the Roman throne; but Hero Nevsky answered him: “We know the true teaching of the Church, but we do not accept yours.” In the middle of the 14th century, in 1347, the Swedish king Magnus, to please the pope, invited the Novgorodians to enter into a debate about faith, but Vasily, Archbishop of Novgorod, instructed him to turn to the Greek Church for this. Under Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1581, the cunning Jesuit Anthony Possevin came to Moscow in order to arrange an agreement between him and the Polish king Stefan Batory and persuade him to recognize papal power. John showered Anthony with gifts and affection for the pacification of Batory, and in the debate about faith gave him a strong rebuff. On the way back through Poland, Anthony Possevin advised the king and his fellow Jesuits to act in every possible way in favor of the union, since direct submission of the Russian popes was impossible to achieve. At the end of the 16th century, the so-called Lithuanian Union took place, or the union of Orthodox Christians living in the southwestern dioceses separated from the Moscow Metropolis with the Roman Catholic Church. The reasons for this unfortunate event for the Orthodox Church and disastrous for the entire southwestern region were the instability in the position and administration of the separated dioceses; intrigues on the part of the Latins and especially the Jesuits 81, betrayal of Orthodoxy by some bishops who ruled the southwestern Russian Church at that time. With the separation of the southwestern dioceses under the authority of a special metropolitan, the question arose: to whom should they be hierarchically subordinate? Against the wishes of those responsible for the secession, the southwestern metropolis submitted to the authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople, and the patriarchs, in view of the dangers from Latinism, strengthened their supervision over the seceded dioceses. Many of the southwestern bishops began to be burdened by this dependence, especially seeing that the Moscow Metropolis had completely freed itself from it and became independent. Another difficult question was about external patronage for the separated southwestern dioceses. The Moscow Church had protection and patrons in the Orthodox sovereigns. The Kiev Empire did not have this support, because the Polish and Lithuanian kings were Catholics, and found support only among the Orthodox boyars (lords) and the people. The boyars and those chosen from the people participated in the election of not only priests, but also bishops and the metropolitan himself. At the same time, it happened that many estates passed from Orthodox lords to Catholics; along with the rights of landowners, they also received the right to supervise Orthodox churches. All this inevitably led to various confusions in management. The bishops complained about the restriction of their rights and asked the kings for letters on the independence of the church court from any worldly interference. The kings, in order to increase their power, willingly gave these charters and weakened both the lords and the bishops themselves, who had their support in the lords. Given this state of affairs in our southwestern dioceses, the Jesuits came here and, with their usual dexterity and perseverance, took advantage of all the favorable circumstances for their goal, that is, to spread the power of the Pope. They took over the schools and instilled in the children of the Russian boyars an aversion to the Orthodox clergy and the Russian faith, which they called the servile faith (i.e., the faith of the common people). The fruits of such upbringing were soon revealed. Most of the Russian boyars and princes converted to Latinism. To counteract the influence of the Jesuits, brotherhoods were established in many cities, which received important rights from the Eastern patriarchs; for example, the Lvov brotherhood had the right to denounce the bishops themselves for wrong-headedness and even excommunicate them from the Church. New difficulties arose, which the Jesuits again cleverly took advantage of. They armed the bishops against the brotherhoods and against the patriarchs (slaves of the Sultan), pointing out to them the magnificent situation of the Catholic bishops, many of whom sit in the Senate and enjoy importance, wealth, and power. The Polish government helped the Jesuits in every possible way and provided episcopal positions, at their direction, to such persons who could and subsequently turned out to be obedient to their tools. Such were especially Kirill Terletsky, Bishop of Lutsk, and Ipatiy Potsey, Bishop of Vladimir-on-Volhynia. Kirill Terletsky, a nobleman by birth, in the rank of bishop led the life of a riotous Polish gentleman. Neighbors complained about his violence and raids, sometimes accompanied by murders. On top of all this, he was a bigamist. Ipatiy Potsey, also a nobleman, was brought up by the Jesuits and was first a Catholic, then a Reformed, and finally an Orthodox. He became a monk out of debts that he incurred while living in the world. Cyril tonsured him and procured for him the rich bishopric of Vladimir-on-Volhynia. Both of them were burdened by dependence on the patriarch, lords, brotherhoods and dreamed of independence and honor for the Latin bishops who sat in the Senate. The closest reason for union was given by the following circumstance. The Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremiah, while traveling through the south of Russia to Moscow to establish the patriarchate, deprived the Kyiv Metropolitan Onisiphorus of his throne for bigamy, appointed Mikhail Ragoza in his place and ordered him to convene a council before his return to discuss another bigamist, accused of many crimes, Kirill Terletsky. Mikhail Ragoza, a kind man, but of weak character, did not convene a council and led the patriarch into vain expectations and costs. The Patriarch, recalled by his affairs from Russia, sent letters of trust to Ragoza and Meletius, Bishop of Vladimir, for the trial of Terletsky. Both of these letters were intercepted by Kirill, and the matter dragged on again. Meanwhile, Meletius died, and Kirill Terletsky managed to provide the Vladimir see to his friend, Hypatius Potsey. Fearing the appointment of a new trial by the patriarch, Cyril hastened to act in favor of the union and recruited Hypatius, whom he had lent, as his accomplice. In 1593, they openly proposed a union to the other southwestern bishops to free themselves from the power of the patriarch and from the interference of the laity in matters of church government. In December 1595, they were already in Rome, kissed the shoe of Pope Clement VIII, recognized the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Son, the supreme power of the Roman Pontiff, the doctrine of indulgences and purgatory. The Pope received them with delight, appointed a great celebration in honor of the union with the Russians, and ordered a coin to be minted. This coin depicted the pope and a Russian who fell at his feet, and the words were carved: “In memory of the perception of the Russians.” This whole business was carried out, according to the custom of the Jesuits, with various forgeries and deceptions. So, for example, the signatures on white blankets were taken from two bishops, as if in case of unforeseen petitions to the king for the Orthodox, and yet it was on these very blankets that the request for union was written. Potsey and Terletsky in Rome made such concessions to the pope that even the bishops who agreed with them did not authorize them. Before Terletsky and Potsey had time to return from Rome, these forgeries were discovered, which caused strong indignation against them both on the part of some bishops (Gideon of Lvov and Michael of Przemysl), and on the part of the Orthodox princes (Prince Ostrog), and the people. At the end of 1596, a council was held in the city of Brest to judge the union, to which, in addition to the southwestern bishops, two patriarchal exarchs appeared: from the Patriarch of Constantinople Nikephoros and from Alexandria Cyril Lukris. From the very beginning of the council, the Orthodox separated from the Uniate party and opened special sessions. The Orthodox were led by exarchs, six bishops and the Prince of Ostrog. Four bishops turned out to be adamant adherents of the union, but the king took their side. The Metropolitan behaved indecisively and did not know where to turn, until secular power and the insistence of the Jesuits attracted him to the side opposed to Orthodoxy. The adherents of the union solemnly read the papal bull and the act of union. The Orthodox, for their part, signed a definition: not to listen to the metropolitan and apostate bishops and consider them deprived of power; do not do anything regarding faith without the will of the Patriarch of Constantinople. From this time on, persecution of the Orthodox began. Uniate bishops removed Orthodox priests and replaced them with Uniates. Orthodox brotherhoods were declared rebellious gatherings; townspeople faithful to Orthodoxy were deprived of their positions and restricted in trade and crafts. The peasants were subjected to all sorts of insults from their Catholic landlords. Churches were forcibly converted into Uniate ones or leased to Jews. The tenant had the keys to the church and charged a fee for each service and demand. Many Orthodox Christians fled from this oppression to the steppes to the Cossacks. These rebelled in defense of the Orthodox faith under the leadership of Nalivaika; but the Poles defeated them and burned Nalivaika. Then a new uprising broke out under the leadership of Taras. But, fortunately for the Orthodox, their furious persecutor Sigismund III died. His successor, Vladislav IV, gave the Orthodox Church benefits, under which it established itself for the subsequent fight against the Uniates and Catholics. By the way, the Orthodox were allowed to have a special metropolitan in Kyiv. At this pulpit there appeared a remarkable figure in favor of Orthodoxy - Metropolitan Peter Mogila. Metropolitan Peter Mohyla ruled the Kyiv Metropolis from 1633 to 1646. the son of a Moldavian ruler, he was educated in Paris and served with honor in the Polish army. He became a monk at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and was its archimandrite. Having become the Metropolitan of Kyiv, he immediately returned the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral from the Uniates, renewed and re-consecrated it; decorated the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and restored one chapel of the Tithe Church, during which the relics of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir were found; transformed the Epiphany fraternal school, begged various privileges for it from the king who was favorable to him, and renamed it a college. This college, called Mogilyanskaya, later became the Kyiv Academy and a hotbed of spiritual enlightenment for all of Russia. Several learned people, whom he sent abroad for a thorough education, were engaged, under his supervision, partly in translating the works of their fathers, partly in compiling new books that served to protect Orthodoxy. Under his leadership, the “Orthodox Confession of Faith” was compiled. Considered at two councils in Kyiv and Iasi, it was then approved and approved by all the Eastern patriarchs and thus acquired the authority of a symbolic book for the entire Orthodox Church, which it still has. Liturgical books were printed under the supervision of the Metropolitan. One of his important publications was the publication of the great Trebnik. The Metropolitan worked on revising the Bible for a new edition and the lives of the saints, but these works were interrupted by the death of the blessed saint. However, although Vladislav treated the Orthodox Christians favorably, the Poles did not listen to him and continued to press them. The Cossacks took up arms several times, and when they were captured by the Poles, they subjected them to terrible torture. Some were wheeled around, others had their arms and legs broken, others were pierced through with knitting needles and raised on the rack. Children were burned on iron grates in front of the eyes of their fathers and mothers. Such horrors prompted the Cossacks to seek the protection of the Russian Tsar, and in 1654 Little Russia, under Hetman Bogdan Khmelnytsky, joined Russia. In 1685, Patriarch Joachim of Moscow and All Russia appointed Gideon, Prince of Chetvertinsky, Metropolitan of Kyiv, and from that time the Kyiv metropolitans became dependent on the Patriarch of Moscow and entered into unity with the Orthodox Church of Great Russia. But other dioceses torn away from it in Lithuania and Galicia remained in the union with Rome that was forcibly imposed on them. – The Jesuit Order was founded by Ignatius of Loyola in the middle of the 16th century, during the fierce struggle of the popes with the Lutherans and Reformed. The main goal of this order is to serve the pope and fight his enemies. The rule of this order is known: the end justifies the means, i.e. In the interests of the pope, all means are permissible - deception, theft, and murder. By implementing this rule with persistence and skill, the Jesuits aroused hatred against themselves on the part of all governments and peoples. You might be interested in: