The Catholic Church in the USA and its attitude to the USSR (1933-1941): based on the materials of "Brief notes on the attitude of various Christian Churches to the moment" by Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov)

Ivanisov Kirill Mihailovich ORCID: 0009-0003-8821-2787 Postgraduate student; Department of Church History and General Humanitarian Disciplines; General Church Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies named after Saints Cyril and Methodius 295011, Russia, Republic of Crimea, Simferopol, Geroev Ajimushkaya str., 9/11 kirillivanisov@gmail.com

In front of the eyes of the whole world, the tragedy of the persecution of the canonical Orthodox Church is taking place in Ukraine today. The position of the Russian Orthodox Church on this issue is attested by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia: "the so-called Greek Catholics – Uniates actively participate in inciting and maintaining persecution of the Orthodox people of Ukraine," who also "actively participated in the events of the coup in Kiev in 2013-2014" (His Holiness Patriarch Kirill: Greek Catholics They take an active part in inciting and maintaining the persecution of the Orthodox people of Ukraine. URL: http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/6043796.html?ysclid=lxkwwm49hh29956796). Russian Russian Orthodox Church The scale and consequences of the ongoing process are aimed not only at the dissolution of the centuries-old spiritual bond between the Russian and Ukrainian peoples through the elimination of any possibility of the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church on public life in Ukraine, but also at the destruction of the integrity of Orthodoxy throughout the world.

In order to correctly identify the mechanisms for countering the danger hanging over the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the prospects for improving the social situation in Ukraine, it is necessary to turn to the experience of the historical past. One of the first to see the future danger of the ideological independent platform of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), who from November 22, 1933 to August 21, 1947, carried the obedience of Metropolitan of Aleut and North America, exarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in North America. The undoubted merit of the named church hierarch is his work on preparing a platform for the participation of the Russian Orthodox Church as a soft power of the USSR in relations with foreign states.

Since the 1990s, the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the context of the foreign policy of the USSR has been the subject of research by such domestic scientists as O. Y. Vasilyeva ^[11], M. V. Shkarovsky ^[26], S. V. Bolotov ^[8], I. V. Shkuratova ^[27] and others.

M. I. Odintsovo ^[16], R. Y. Prosvetov ^{[19; 20; 21]}, A. A. Kostryukov ^[13] were directly involved in the coverage of the activities of Metropolitan Veniamin of Aleut and North America in the USA, but it is still too early to talk about the exhaustion and completeness of their works. For example, the "Brief Notes on the Attitude of Various Christian Churches to the Moment", compiled by Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov) on January 22, 1942 and currently stored in the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation, have not yet been introduced into scientific circulation.

The importance of the analytical review made by the representative of the Moscow Patriarchate in America is evidenced by the cover letter from the Consul General of the USSR in New York E. D. Kiselyov to the materials on the situation of the Russian Orthodox Church in America, sent on December 27, 1943 to the head of the Department of American Countries of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the USSR G. N. Zarubin ^[4]. Many of the thoughts and considerations of the mentioned church hierarch were subsequently used by the government of the USSR to develop a foreign policy course that takes into account the importance of the negative activities of the Roman Catholic Church ^[12].

In 1933-1941, the Catholic Church in the United States was represented by the Roman Catholic Church of the Latin Rite, the Ukrainian and Ruthenian Greek Catholic Churches, or in the terminology of Metropolitan Benjamin of Aleut and North America: the Catholic Church, Ukrainians and Galician Uniates, the Carpatho-Russian Church and Slavic Uniates (the latter two were parts of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, with a difference in that a significant part of the parishes of the Carpatho-Russian Church transferred to the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the late 1930s).

The Roman Catholic Church of the Latin Rite was a denomination that united about 37% of the faithful in the United States. She possessed colossal property, a huge seal and all kinds of organizations. Protestants outnumbered Catholics, but they were all fragmented into dozens of independent churches. The undoubted advantage of the Catholic Church was a single powerful center, which exerted a growing influence "on government circles, on the press, on society, on its masses" ^{[5, l. 108]}.

The Roman Catholic Church had a strongly negative attitude towards the Soviet Union for religious persecution in the USSR, including against its clergy and parishioners, as well as an anti-religious attitude that threatened to go beyond the borders of the Union. "Catholics considered such a danger more terrible even than the Lutheran Reformation..." ^{[5, l. 108]}. Throughout the 1920s, Pope Pius XI tried in various ways to improve the situation of the Roman Catholic Church in the USSR: from openly speaking out against the godless government to conducting secret diplomatic negotiations with it, which were terminated in 1927 due to the lack of any progress ^[28]. On February 2, 1930, Pope Pius XI spoke out against the Soviet government, accusing it of godless persecution: "... The growth of such atrocities and godlessness, encouraged by state power, requires universal and solemn compensation and response..." ^[15]. Professor O. Y. Vasilyeva gives a static description of the persecution of the Russian Church: "in the period 1929-1936. 50,000 convicts, 5,000 of them executed. 1937 and 1938 were the most terrible for the clergy and laity – 200,000 repressed and 100,000 executed. In the 1939-1940s, executions continued (about 2 thousand people were shot)" ^[10].

According to Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), another reason for the negative attitude of the Catholic Church towards the Soviet government was the unacceptability of the revival of Orthodoxy in the USSR, since this threatened "to diminish Catholicism, not so much in the Union, where Catholics are not strong, as in the countries in contact (...) and, of course, it is dangerous for Catholicism and everything – even the political one is the rapprochement of the Union (or the Orthodox Church) with England and America" ^{[5, l. 108]}. With the fierce propaganda launched against the Soviet Union in the 1930s, Catholics thought to achieve two goals: "to undermine confidence in the Union throughout the world (not only Catholic), and through this to put a stigma at the same time on the Orthodox Church, which is in some kind of alliance with the Union" ^{[5, l. 108 about.]}.

In 1933, the issue of recognizing the USSR and establishing diplomatic relations with it was on the agenda in the United States. An analysis of the religious life of the Roman Catholic Church in the USA at that time shows that the position of the Catholic Church was not homogeneous on the issue of recognition of the USSR. So, in February 1933, the diplomatic agent of the NKID of the USSR in the USA, B. E. Skvirsky, reported on Catholics as especially "hostile" elements towards the USSR ^{[1, l. 30]}. He also stated in April that "Catholic and patriotic organizations bombard the administration with telegrams of protest against the recognition of the USSR" ^{[2, l. 101]}. The uncompromising position of representatives of the Catholic Church in America on the issue of relations between the United States and the USSR was openly expressed in lectures by Professor of geopolitics and founder of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Jesuit priest Edmund Walsh, who was part of the Wall–Walsh-Fish group, which actively sought a preliminary Senate hearing on the situation in Soviet Russia ^{[23, p. 256]}. In October 1933, the same B. E. Skvirsky informed that E. Walsh had received a statement from a liberal group of Catholics about their readiness to support F. D. Roosevelt "if the president decides to recognize the Union" ^{[3, p. 112]}.

On October 10, 1933, the President of the United States addressed a message to the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR M.I. Kalinin, thereby initiating a dialogue between the United States and the USSR. Already in November, a 10-day negotiation process took place, which preceded the establishment of diplomatic relations. The main issues of discussion were religion, propaganda and debts. On the first two points, F. D. Roosevelt presented two official drafts to the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, M. M. Litvinov. The essence of the document on religion was that the Soviet government had to commit itself to ensuring that American citizens in the USSR had the right to full freedom of conscience and free worship. Clergy should not be discriminated against before the law, and American citizens should be given the right to conduct charitable work among their citizens and other foreigners. On all these points, the US president was given the appropriate assurances by the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, however, the Soviet government reserved the right to refuse visas to Americans wishing to travel to the USSR for personal reasons. On November 16, 1933, M. M. Litvinov and F. D. Roosevelt exchanged notes. Despite the opposition of the Catholic Church, it was possible to achieve the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the United States thanks to F. D. Roosevelt and the influence of certain trade elites of the country.

The US President reiterated his position in 1934, when Poles were massively deported from the western regions of the USSR. In the same year, he initiated the signing of a trade agreement with the Soviet Union, thereby showing that the internal affairs of the USSR practically do not affect the decision-making of its administration ^{[18, p. 36]}.

On March 19, 1937, the Pope issued the encyclical "Divini Redemptoris" (On Godless Communism), which, in addition to reminding believers about religious persecution in the USSR, prohibited all cooperation with communists. Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov) was convinced that when Germany occupied Poland in September 1939, "the Catholic Church preferred the conquest of its outpost by the Germans, because it was clear to everyone that Poland alone would not endure a month of struggle against Germany than an alliance with Russia. (...) Rome sold Poland for itself (Catholicism)" ^{[5, l. 108 vol.]}. In his opinion, the Munich Agreement of 1938 had the same nature, on which "the Catholic Mussolini, the English Chamberlain, the Protestant semi-Pagan Hitler and the irreligious Daladier conspired. And quite unanimously they decided to sell both the Union (Russia) and the Orthodox Church, and the Slavs in general… But it happened otherwise… Not by their will, however, but for historical and social reasons and by God's Providence… Russian Russian Orthodox Church, to the surprise of the West (and Russian "Westerners", narrow politicians, schismatic bishops abroad, etc.), without the slightest hesitation became side-by-side with the Soviet (godless) government, with such "terrible" communism, in the struggle against the same West, secretly driven and hitherto by the Catholic spirit" ^{[5, l. 108 vol.-109]}.

The American exarch also attributed Slovakia's subsequent alliance with Hitler in 1941 to Catholic influence. "Catholicism is deeply ingrained in the body of Western countries. And it's not for nothing that Slovakia is headed by Priest Tissot, i.e. Rome... and Hungary – with Hitler for the same reason... and Austria… And now even France..." ^{[5, l. 108 vol.]}. In his opinion, the Catholic center would be happy to "conspire with Hitler, and not with the Union...", "sell" Italy, just to avoid the danger from the Union (and Orthodoxy)" ^{[5, l. 108 vol.]}.

Metropolitan Benjamin's thoughts on the position of the Catholic Church and its influence on European countries once again convince that the speech of 90% of the Catholic clergy against the allocation of aid to the Soviet Union in 1941 was a natural consequence of the policy of the popes in previous years. The US president received hundreds of letters from representatives of Catholic parishes in America warning him against supporting godless Russia ^[22]. However, the position of the head of a foreign state was adamant: Nazism is more destructive than Bolshevism, and the Russian dictatorship is less dangerous for other nations than the German one.

By August 1941, the situation of the Red Army gave every reason to believe that it was suffering defeat, as the US President was informed by his representative in Moscow, Hopkins. In August, after consultations with Churchill in Ottawa, at which the Atlantic Charter (one of the main program documents of the anti-Hitler coalition) was formulated, Roosevelt decided to begin providing assistance to the USSR ^{[18, p. 39]}. In order to influence the position of Catholics within his country, the US president corresponded with the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Pius XII, in which he convinced him of the need to provide assistance to the USSR in the fight against Germany. One of the goals of Roosevelt's message to Pius XII, transmitted in September 1941 by Taylor, was an attempt to encourage the Vatican to appeal to all Catholics to "recognize assistance to the Soviet Union as a God-pleasing cause" ^{[14, p. 7]}. "As far as I am informed, churches in Russia are open," the president wrote. He also expressed confidence that a revival of genuine religious freedom is possible in Russia "on much more solid foundations than is the case in modern Germany" ^{[7, p. 61]}.

In addition to Catholics who resisted providing assistance to the USSR, Roosevelt faced "isolationism" in the US Congress associated with unwillingness to participate in European unions and wars ^[6]. The association of isolationists with Catholics threatened the passage of the law on assistance to the USSR in Congress ^{[24, p. 89]}. It is known that the US president complained about the anti-Soviet intrigues of the Catholic Church, especially Catholics and their people in Congress, asked in information from the USSR to emphasize the patriotic position of the church in the USSR, said that he sent his personal representative to the Vatican Taylor back to the pope with the main purpose of neutralizing the influence of Catholics in the United States.

In early October 1941, the United States, Great Britain and the USSR concluded the first protocol on supplies, although transport supplies from Great Britain began in August 1941, and from the United States on September 4, 1941 ^{[17, p. 116]}. At the same time, the prevailing domestic sentiments towards the Soviet Union forced Roosevelt to act without delay and already at the end of October 1941, the personal representative of the US President, A. Harriman, who arrived in Moscow, informed Stalin about the concern of the American public about the fate of the Russian Church. He also conveyed Roosevelt's request to improve the legal and political situation of the church in the USSR. The Soviet leadership could not ignore the wishes of the American representative, as this was a condition for receiving assistance from the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, among whom the United States, of course, was of particular importance. The real reality forced I. Stalin, the leadership of the CPSU (b) to begin a revision of their religious policy, to move to dialogue in the name of unity of believers and atheists in the fight against a common enemy ^{[25, p. 26]}. So, if in July-August 1941 there were frequent cases of arrests of clergymen, then since the autumn of 1941 the arrests of clerics of the Moscow Patriarchate have practically stopped. Dozens of clergymen were released from the camps. Gradually, episcopal cathedrals began to revive, and the first, so far the rarest cases of restoration of closed churches appeared ^{[25, L. 27]}.

After December 8, 1941, when the United States declared war on Japan, the Roman Catholic Church began to show great caution, but essentially remained the same ^{[5, l. 109 vol.]}. "... I absolutely do not believe in the sincerity of Roman Catholics when they pass their resolutions of sympathy for Roosevelt, the struggle against Hitler, approval Russians... Metropolitan Benjamin wrote, "I do not believe even the modern congresses of Catholics and Englishmen in England, in Canada, where resolutions are passed on the "joint" struggle against the "common enemy.".. This is politics, not persuasion: this is the need of the moment, not the impulse of the heart; this is the fear of government and working circles, not sincere patriotism... Yes, yes!!!" ^{[5, l. 109 vol.]}. In his opinion, in America, as in other countries, the Soviet Union and the Russian Orthodox Church need to be afraid of Catholicism (and the Orthodox Church). "There is almost no real hope for the leaders; and their resolutions are questionable... Even protecting Jews is also a deception... And the masses of workers will gradually be freed from the hypnotism of the leaders. In this sense, I believe that the modern war (and it will not be short) will give a great impetus to their motivation... It takes time... And even more important are the stunning modern events that will make a shift in the hearts... But Catholic centers will fiercely defend their positions and privileges... And now – secretly, and after the war – clearly..." ^{[5, l. 110]}.

At the same time, the American exarch of the Russian Orthodox Church believed that, despite this position of Catholics, it was still possible to work with the masses, although without much success. "Poles and even Russian uniates (Carpatho-Russians, Ukrainians–Galician, and through them partly Soviet, and incomparably more American, long-time immigrants from Ukraine - although these are less like Orthodox), they are all magnetized by Catholicism, which plays on their bad chauvinistic feelings..." ^{[5, l. 109 about.]}.

Metropolitan Benjamin pinned certain hopes on the working-class movement among Catholics, it was in them that they should "gradually (with difficulty) win back friends...", but he did not know how to do this, he was only convinced that there was no need to fight against the Catholic faith, as it was after the occupation of the territory of eastern Poland by the USSR. The experience of cohabitation and cooperation of Catholics with Soviet countries on the example of the short time spent by Eastern Poland in the USSR, the cohabitation of Catholics and the Russian Orthodox Church (the formation of Orthodox dioceses, the appointment of bishops, priests, etc.) is the way to liberate Catholics "from papal childish hypnosis" ^{[5, l. 110 vol.]}, to pass according to which the war will help.

Metropolitan Veniamin held a loyal opinion in relation to the Carpatho-Russian Church, which consisted of ethnic Russians. As you know, in July 1935, 37 Rusyn parishes decided to convene a council held on November 23, 1937 under the leadership of Priest Orest Chornok in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania). The Council decided to break the union with Rome and transfer to the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople ^{[9, pp. 105-106]}. In the autumn of 1941 "they had a congress at which they resolutely decided to take the line of support for Russia unconditionally, fight against Hitler and, of course, support their America" ^{[5, l. 109 vol.]}. According to the American exarch, the stifling smell of Uniatism still remained in the Carpathian Church, Orthodoxy was not very strong and the Russian spirit was not strong, but it was necessary to be content with what was there. In his "Brief Notes ..." it was noted: "They are also weak in the canons. There were many gaps. But you have to endure this too. They are our friends; and friendship will grow stronger and stronger. They are enemies of Catholics and pro–Hitler Russians; this will also increase. They are helping to break up the fascist front in America and against the Soviets. There are not many of them yet; but they are growing. I have friendly relations with many people. Here, Orestes is cunning and cautious. History will pass through him on its own path – the Orthodox Russian, patriotic" ^{[5, l. 120]}. The main thing is the common position of the Carpatho–Russian Church, which was on the side of Soviet Russia. That is why, according to Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), the Soviet government should pay attention to her and support her, first of all, through "closer and more direct communication with the main "leader" of this movement, Fr. Varzaliy," who was also the editor of their newspaper Russian Bulletin" ^{[5, l. 120]}.

With regard to the Slavic Uniates, who remained in Catholicism and consisted of such a people as Lemki, the American exarch was also quite optimistic. "Without a doubt," he wrote, "in the depths of their souls they are preparing to leave Rome. Why? The Carpathian Russians, unlike the Galicians and Ukrainian Uniates, have always been "Russian" in spirit and longed for reunification with Russia... And now they're pining... Although Catholicism poisoned their souls a lot, it did not kill them completely... And I, being a bishop in Carpathian Russia for 8 months myself, saw their love for Russia. Driven into the mountains, between the forests, they survived for 1000 years of separation from the Russian brothers; but for that, these same mountains, forests and poverty saved them from being absorbed by the Magyars and Catholics. These are Russians! They do not like separatism, like Galicians corrupted by Austrians and Poles" ^{[5, l. 120 vol.]}. According to Metropolitan Benjamin, many of the Slavic uniates would have gone to Bishop Orestes (Chornok), but this was prevented by Catholic propaganda and fear for property, which, according to the decision of the judicial authorities, they lost in the event of such a transition. The construction of new churches was expensive, so the Carpathian Uniates remained with Rome, which was strongly facilitated by both the press and their clergy. At the same time, their desire to take part in the All-Slavic Congress was a welcome phenomenon, the idea of which, despite the Catholic Poles and Uniate Ukrainians, was defended by their newspaper American Russian Bulletin. Russian Russian-Uniate sentiment among the Carpatho-Russian Church of the Slavic Uniates was greatly helped by the American-Russian union. In general, the Slavic Uniates, according to Metropolitan Benjamin, could be considered a cooperative religious movement, but only in a cautious form, since the memory of the "godless" Soviet government, thanks to Catholic propaganda, was still deeply embedded in the Uniates ^{[5, l. 120 vol.]}.

Russian Russian Orthodox Church, as the American exarch of the Russian Orthodox Church noted, taking a visible part in World War II, the Catholic Church "would like to do it on the same principle as some "Russian" politicians: We are for Russia, but against the Soviet government... And American Catholics are like this: We are for America and England, but it would be better without Stalin..." ^{[5, l. 110 vol.]}. The mentioned hierarch had no doubt that in the event of a quick end to the war, these same praisers of the victorious Soviet army "would very soon turn into opponents of "Stalin"..." ^{[5, l. 110 vol.]}. Moreover, he warned against waiting for this "under all future conditions..." ^{[5, l. 110 vol.]}.

From the first days of the outbreak of war with Nazi Germany, the most powerful spiritual potential of the Russian Orthodox Church was revealed, which led to a change in the attitude of the state towards it. In 1943, the Soviet government adopted a "new course", and the next decade was a time of revival of church life in the USSR ^[10].

Last but not least, this was also due to the awareness of the possibility of using the ROC in the implementation of domestic and foreign policy goals of the state. Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), who is in the United States, was one of those who was preparing a springboard for establishing relations between church and state. The analysis of the historical-ecclesiastical and state-political contexts of Vladyka Veniamin (Fedchenkov) 's "Brief Notes..." makes it possible to assess not only the seriousness of the influence of the Catholic Church on the foreign policy of the United States and other European countries in 1933-1941 and to better understand the nature of the events that occurred after the end of World War II, but also to comprehend the role of the Catholic Church in political the processes taking place in Ukraine today.

The Patriarchal exarch in his notes gives a surprisingly accurate description of the various movements of the Catholic Church in the United States, which, oddly enough, does not lose its relevance in current realities. Vladyka Benjamin prophetically warned that after the end of the war and the victory over Hitler, Stalin would be the enemy of the West. The indulgence and development of Catholic separatism among Ukrainians and Galician Uniates already then pursued two mutually complementary tasks - to keep them from going to Orthodoxy, and with it the removal from Russians and everything related to them. For this reason, in most of the Ukrainian uniates, as Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov) states, "pro-Hitlerism has been brought up for a long time" ^{[5, l. 119]}, and only a small minority of them "adheres to widespread Slavic cooperation" ^{[5, l. 119]}.

In the analysis of "Brief Notes...", completed by 1942, Vladyka Veniamin pointed out the religious origins of Ukrainian nationalism, the narratives of which have not changed since the time of the events under consideration. The exarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in North America saw the spiritual prerequisites for the rejection of Orthodoxy by the Moscow Patriarchate, and, consequently, everything related to Russia and Russian statehood, however, he believed that "life would be stronger than Catholics..." ^{[5, l. 110 vol.]}.