The criminal case of bishop Ivan Lyatyshevskyi as a source of studying the everyday life of the Greek Catholic clergy

The materials of the criminal case instituted by the Soviet special services against the assistant bishop of the Stanislaviv Diocese of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, teacher, doctor of theology Ivan Lyatyshevskyi are analyzed. The author believes that nowadays the evidence about this religious figure is insignificant, there are only short encyclopedic-type reports, articles of a popular nature, or individual local history publications. The possibilities of using criminal cases as a source of studying the daily life of the Greek Catholic clergy are clarified. As an example, the author uses the potential of a criminal case, which in 1945 Soviet special services introduced against Bishop Ivan Lyatyshevskyi. Attributive components of all criminal cases are considered – the arrested person’s questionnaire, the biography of the clergyman, the circumstances of his arrest, details of the search of his residence, the nuances of the interrogations, extracts from the verdict report, etc. It is proven that the materials of the criminal case contain a lot of informative facts not only about the pastoral but also about the public and social activities of the Greek Catholic clergy in the interwar period, during the Second World War, significantly supplementing the informative and informative material of this historical period. The socio-political views, ideological convictions, interests, inclinations of Bishop Ivan Lyatyshevskyi are highlighted. The intimate communicative environment of I. Lyatyshevskyi is characterized, the names of specific, unremarkable, “small” often little-known people (mainly clergymen), whose fates are usually overlooked in traditional research, are included. It is noted that the study of criminal cases provides an opportunity to better understand the historical era, which unfolded under the conditions of total supervision of priests, standardized their behavior, formed the mentality of persecuted, persecuted, often doomed persons. Keywords: Bishop Ivan Lyatyshevskyi, criminal case, Soviet special services, everyday life, primary source, Greek Catholic clergy