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Witnessing fidelity to God, the Church and the Holy Father through the example of the blessed bishops-martyrs Gojdić and Hopko, as a fruit of the development of the modern Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia
Abstract
In 1950, anti-church activities led by the communist authorities intensified in Czechoslovakia. This led to the so-called Council of Prešov of 28 April 1950, which decided to subordinate and take over the property of the Greek Catholic Church and believers under the administration of the Orthodox Church in Czechoslovakia. This 'pseudo-synod' took place according to Soviet models, during which - contrary to church canons - Slovak Uniates (Greek Catholics) were 'reunited' with the Moscow Patriarchate. In Prešov, only five priests and a number of laymen were in favour of this, but this was enough to invalidate the Uzhhorod Union of 1646, the descendants of which were and are Slovakian Greek Catholics then and today. However, not everyone was in favour of such 'unification' with the Orthodox Church (which, by the way, was a negligible minority in Slovak lands), and those who strongly opposed these measures included Prešov Bishop Pavol Peter Gojdič (1888-1960) and his auxiliary Bishop Vasiľ Hopko (1904-76). For his strong resistance to 'unification', bp. Gojdič was first sentenced to life imprisonment and then, as part of an amnesty in 1953, this sentence was commuted to 25 years' imprisonment. While in prison, he remained steadfast and faithful to his unity with Rome. His stay in isolation and the torture he was subjected to undermined his health and the bishop died on his 72nd birthday on 17 July 1960 in Leopoldov prison near Trnava. On 4 November 2001, Pope John Paul II proclaimed him Blessed.
Keywords:
Slovakia, Greek Catholic Church, Czechoslovakia, Bishop Vasiľ Hopko, Bishop Pavol GojdičMost read articles by the same author(s)
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