From “leaders of the Church” to “leaders of the Nation”. How public rituals helped to create the image of “national hierarchs” in the era of mass politics in Lviv during the Habsburg autonomy

Abstract

Specific church rituals that were held in Lviv at the end of the 19th - at the beginning of the 20th century are considered. It is shown that they evolved along with the change in the political situation and the spread of the ideology of nationalism - from the efforts of churches to distance themselves from modern trends to the inclusion of nationalist rhetoric in their arsenals. As a result, these rituals began to testify to the new role of church hierarchs – as leaders of the national communities of Ukrainians and Poles.