«I physically felt how something broke in my heart»: the chaplains of the Greek- Catholic Church in the Ukrainian armed forces in the course of the First and Second World Wars

Abstract

Based on the private sources of information the activities of chaplains of the Ukrainian
Greek-Catholic Church during the First and Second World Wars are researched. The
chaplain’s image is considered to be a combination of such features as: priest, moral
authority, fellow or parent. Military actions, meetings with death, loss of dearly beloved
ones, compulsion to kill, the everyday difficulties, injuries and physical sufferings were a
challenge. To deal with them people turned to God and priests. Real military routine was
significantly different from the ideas about it behind the front line. The task of the chaplains
was to maintain the morale of soldiers, to strengthen the feeling of necessity of struggle
in difficult conditions, to create favourable atmosphere for achieving goals. Adopting the
role of a shield for the soldiers, the priests remained one-on-one with their feelings and
concerns, which had to be overcome on their own.
Keywords: The Greek Catholic Church, First World War, Second World War, Ukrainian
chaplains, memoiristics