THE LIQUIDATION OF THE MONASTERY IN POHON BY SOVIET GOVERNMENT STRUCTURES 1945–1953

Abstract

In the scientific article, the authors reveal the history of the largest pilgrimage center of Pokuttya – Pogonsky monastery of the order of St. Basil the Great. Currently, there are no scientific studies that would highlight the history of the temple. The subject of the article is the conditions, chronology, normative base and implementation by the Soviet authorities of the closure of the Pogonsky Monastery in the process of liquidation of the UGCC, 1946. The purpose of the article is to show the measures taken by Soviet governmental structures aimed at the incorporation of this church organization into the ranks of the Russian Orthodox Church. The basis of the source base are, first of all, materials from the funds of the State Archives of Ivano-Frankivsk region. Pohon Monastery was finally closed on March 12, 1947. There are two directions of behavior of the monks of Pohon after the closure of the monastery. The first group of fathers can be associated with the views of the priest Ilya Shtogrin. He joined the Initiative Group, converted to Orthodoxy, and began serving the Pogonsky Church after March 1947 until its closure in the 1950s. The other part of the fathers can be associated with the monk of Pohon – Stepan "Sofron" Dmitry. This group, while remaining loyal to the UGCC, eventually went underground, educating a new generation of Greek Catholic clergy. It is the "position of Sofron Dmyterko" that had a majority among the monks of Pohon, and his disciple and pupil - Fr. Nikodim Huralyuk restored the pilgrimage center in Pohon during the times of national statehood. After the closure of the Pogonia Monastery, a military garrison first operated in its place, and then there was established the Pogonia Psychoneurological Boarding School, which still functionates near the monastery. This study is only a small fragment of the long history of the monastery, which has yet to be covered in the future.

Keywords: Pohon Monastery, UGCC, Lviv Pseudo-Cathedral, Pokuttya, anti-church policy, nationalization, Soviet regime, repressions.