The Eastern Mission of the Pontifical Commission for Russia, Origins to 1933
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University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations August 2017 Lux Occidentale: The aE stern Mission of the Pontifical Commission for Russia, Origins to 1933 Michael Anthony Guzik University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the European History Commons, History of Religion Commons, and the Other History Commons Recommended Citation Guzik, Michael Anthony, "Lux Occidentale: The Eastern Mission of the Pontifical ommiC ssion for Russia, Origins to 1933" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 1632. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1632 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LUX OCCIDENTALE: THE EASTERN MISSION OF THE PONTIFICAL COMMISSION FOR RUSSIA, ORIGINS TO 1933 by Michael A. Guzik A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee August 2017 ABSTRACT LUX OCCIDENTALE: THE EASTERN MISSION OF THE PONTIFICAL COMMISSION FOR RUSSIA, ORIGINS TO 1933 by Michael A. Guzik The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2017 Under the Supervision of Professor Neal Pease Although it was first a sub-commission within the Congregation for the Eastern Churches (CEO), the Pontifical Commission for Russia (PCpR) emerged as an independent commission under the presidency of the noted Vatican Russian expert, Michel d’Herbigny, S.J. in 1925, and remained so until 1933 when it was re-integrated into CEO. The PCpR was given authority over the spiritual and material mission to Soviet Russia, including refugees who had fled the Bolshevik Revolution. While most studies concerning the Catholic Church and Russia are religious or political histories which focus, respectively, on martyrdom or the contest between the so-called free world and Communism, this dissertation is instead a social history which employs religious anthropological categories. The dissertation argues that soft-Orientalist dynamics were at play in the PCpR through the structures which it managed and engaged– especially the Russian Catholic Church of the Byzantine-Slavonic Rite, and through its mission of evangelization as it managed forms of worship, taught Catholic belief– especially as formulated by Vladimir Soloviev, and enforced codes of behavior– especially concerning clerical celibacy and marriage. The sense of the ii barbarity of the Bolshevism, which at one point was compared to Islam, justified for the members of the PCpR their sense of superiority over the Russian people. iii © Copyright by Michael A. Guzik, 2017 All Rights Reserved iv Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam v TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Abstract ................................................................................................................ii CHAPTER I. Soft-Orientalism and the Writing of Catholic-Russian History............................1 II. The Holy Land, Modernity, and Modern Nationalism: The Vatican Discovers Russia as Mission Territory................................................................50 III. Structural Expressions of Soft-Orientalism.........................................................86 IV. Doctrinal and Intellectual Expressions of Soft-Orientalism..............................146 V. Behavioral Codes and the Construction of Soft-Orientalism............................187 Conclusion.........................................................................................................229 Bibliography......................................................................................................234 Curriculum Vitae...............................................................................................256 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my director, Neal Pease, for his kind guidance, constant encouragement, and insightful criticism with respect to this dissertation and during course work. I would also like to thank the members of my committee from UWM, Winson Chu, Christine Evans, and Carolyn Eichner for the same, and I would like to thank Piotr Wrobel from the University of Toronto for serving as my outside reader. I owe much to my committee. While their thoughts and suggestions have made my academic work all the better, all errors, weaknesses, and omissions in this dissertation are my own. I would also like to thank Dr. Johann Ickx and the staff of the archives of the AA.EE.SS in Vatican City which house the documents that were essential for my work, without whose kind help and professional service I could not have written this dissertation. I would also like to thank the staff of the ASV and Dr. Giancarlo Rigotti, the archivist for the Congregation of the Eastern Churches, for their patient help and professionalism. Additionally, I would like to thank Anita Cathey & Barbara Lettermann of the History Department of UWM, and Alfredo del Risco, S.J. & Renato Martinez of the Canisianum in Rome, whose administrative expertise and personal care helped immensely. To M.B.B. Biskupski I say “Dziêkujê serdecznie,” trusting that he understands the depth of those two words. I would also like to thank John O’Malley, S.J., Donald Bain, James Skedros, Helju Aulik Bennett, James Pula, +Anthony Kuzniewski, S.J., +James Hennessey, S.J., Eugene Beirne, David Ehlers, Gary Parese, and Carl DeLorenzo, whose historical expertise both inspired and guided. I also would like to thank Czes³aw Prokopczyk, Joseph Lienhard, S.J., Joseph vii Koterski, S.J., John Conley, S.J., Margaret Guider, O.F.M., Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J., Gerald R. Blaszczak, S.J., and +John Long, S.J., whose expertise in other academic areas helped me grow as a scholar. I want to thank Joseph Mueller, S.J. and “Wally” Stohrer, S.J., for valuable advice at the beginning of my course work. I would like to thank Frederick Dotolo, Dennis Recio, S.J., Joanna Rogalska, Donald Fisher, Michael Kane, Keith Weaver, Stephen Molvarec, S.J., and +Lt. Col. Gregory M. Ehrmann, USMC (Ret.), who indulged me in needed conversation, and managed always to remain positive and encouraging. I would like to thank my Jesuit brothers from my home provincial office, the Canisianum in Rome, and my local community at Marquette University– some of whom have moved on to the St. Camillus Community– for their support. I want to thank especially Michael Boughton and James Miracky, who were responsible for me during this time of special studies. Their attentiveness and service went well beyond the duty which our provincials required of them. Lastly, I would like to thank my family, especially my father Anthony, mother Judith, grandmother Ellen, brother David, and my sister-in-law Heidi, whose enduring love, encouragement, and support has been constant and beyond measure. To you I am grateful beyond words. viii Chapter 1 Soft-Orientalism and the Writing of Catholic-Russian History The history of the Catholic Church and Russia has been, rightly so, a story of conflict. The Catholic Church has been a foreign element with respect to Russia, ranging from the faith of benign foreigners– nonetheless an other– to the faith of competitors and enemies. The schism between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches1 themselves, each of which regarded themselves as the True Rome, intensified this conflict, and was further complicated when the monk Filofei of Pskov wrote Grand Prince Vasilij III of Moscow in 1510, “‘...two Romes have fallen, but the third stands, and there will never be a fourth.’”2 While in the same letter Filofei assured his new political ruler that he [Vasilij] was the most beloved of God, the defender of the true and 1It is important to note that this dissertation will follow the convention used by Catholic and Orthodox theologians in regard to distinguishing “Orthodox” from “orthodox, “Catholic” from “catholic”, and “Tradition” from “tradition.” “Tradition” (with a capital “T”) in both churches signifies that which has been handed down from ancient times and is considered to be essential to matters of faith and morals, and therefore cannot be altered or abandoned. Many equate the concept of Tradition with the “Rule of Faith” articulated by Irenaeus. Contrarily, “tradition” (with a minuscule “t”) signifies that which has been handed down, perhaps even from ancient times, but is not considered to be essential to matters of faith and morals. Correlatively, Orthodox (with a capital “O”) connotes a member of one of the Byzantine, Syriac, or Chalcedonian Rite Churches, and orthodox (with a minuscule “o”) connotes a Christian who believes what is in the Tradition, without alteration. Catholic (with a capital “C”) connotes a Roman Catholic or a Christian who is a member of a church in communion with Rome, while catholic (with a minuscule “c”) connotes a Christian who is not “sectarian” or “heretical,” but who is regarded (usually by his/her own magisterium), as a member of the one, true church of Christ. In depth analysis of these issues is presented by Francis A. Sullivan, S.J., The Church We Believe In: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic (New York: Paulist Press, 1988). The term “Christian” will be used contextually, and connote a person or community which accepts the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381, popularly known simply as the Nicene Creed. Thus, depending upon the historical era, it might be used to indicate all Christians, or it might be