In the dissertation research the historical causes and preconditions of the spread of uniate ideas in the Russian society at the beginning of the 20th century were determined, the paradigm of the historical conflict between the Catholic Church and Russian autocracy was outlined, the main directions of the historical and philosophical comprehension of the problem of unification of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches in Russian society were determined.
An attempt has been made to find out the nature of the differences between the official attitude of the Holy See to the implementation of the unanimous project in the Russian Empire, and the actual, albeit secret, support of the unanimous initiatives of Metropolitan Halytsky Andrei Sheptytsky. Also, the attention of the dissertation focuses on the study of the processes of forming a special model of relations between Metropolitan Galician and representatives of the communities of Russian Greek Catholics ‒ some aspects of personal interaction are analyzed from the angle of scientific research, illustrating the general nature of the historical process of the formation of the Eastern Church of the Catholic Church in Russia.
In the proposed work, considerable attention is paid to the analysis of the internal situation and specificity of the development of the communities of Russian Greek Catholics in the context of sociopolitical processes of the early twentieth century, the study of the features and trends of the integration of the Uniate Church as an independent institution and the spiritual and political concept in the realities of the Russian society of that period.
The specificity of the internal growth of the communities of Russian Greek Catholics in the absence of educated and progressive human resources, insufficient material support, a permanent conflict with the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and a biased attitude from the side of the apparatus of the imperial government has been clarified.
In addition, the external activity of the Eastern Rite Catholic Church in Russia as a full institution was studied, the directions of establishing inter-church dialogue and attempts to establish inter-confessional understanding were highlighted. The role of separate representatives of the communities of Russian Greek Catholics in the establishment of inter-church communication, the formation of a specific spiritual and cultural environment in in the early twentieth century was analyzed.
It was analyzed relationship between the Russian Greek Catholic communities and the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, examples of individual attempts to establish a dialogue between the mentioned communities are given. In particular, the epistolary dialogue between Metropolitan Halytsky A. Sheptytsky and bishop Zhytomyr and Volyn Anatoly Khrapovitsky, as one of the main representatives of the Orthodox hierarchy of the Russian Empire, the theologian and the theologian theoretician, was researched.
Separately, attention is focused on the problems of establishing inter-church relations with the Russian Catholic Church of the Western rite, as well as the Russian Church of the Old Believers. The problematic aspects of establishing inter-confessional dialogue are determined, the importance of the absence of institutional forms of the realization of the Uniate Church in the Russian Empire, connected with the unregulated jurisdictional status and the insufficient level of representation on the external level of relations, is analyzed.
The main achievements of the building of the Catholic Church of the Eastern Bride in Russia as of 1917 are determined, the problems and perspectives of the exarchate formed are analyzed. The specific conditions for the establishment of the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Catholic Church in Russia as an independent institutional unit are highlighted, further ways of advancing uniative ideas in the spiritual and religious space of Russian society are outlined. The problem aspects of the institutionalization of the Uniate Church in Russia are analyzed with the background of socio-political changes of the first half of the 20th century. The role of the newly created hierarchy in the processes of creating the spiritual identity of the Russian Greek Catholics was determined.
Key words: Uniate Church, Eastern Rite Catholic Church in Russia, Eastern Rite, Andrei Sheptytsky, Leonid Fedorov, Russian Empire, Holy See, Institutionalization, Exarchate.
