What did the Vatican think about the religious revival in the occupied territory of the USSR in 1942

• Published in: Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Svi͡a︡to-Tikhonovskogo gumanitarnogo universiteta. II, Istorii͡a︡, istorii͡a︡ Russkoĭ pravoslavnoĭ t͡s︡erkvi Vol. 120; no. 120; pp. 163 - 179
• Main Authors: Beglov, Alexey, Tokareva, Evgenia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 31-10-2024
• ISSN: 1991-6434; 1991-6434
• DOI: 10.15382/sturII2024120.163-179

The publication introduces documents characterising the Vatican’s perception of religious processes in the occupied territories of the USSR that took place in 1941-1942. The main of them – “Memorandum on the Religious Situation in Russia” - was drawn up in the General Curia of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order) and sent to the Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs in May 1942. It presents a sketch of the information available to the Vatican about religious sentiments in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union. On the basis of this information, it is concluded that the anti-religious policy of the Soviet authorities had collapsed and that since the turn of the 1930s and 1940s there had been a religious revival in the USSR, witnessed by Catholic chaplains who had entered its territory at the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. From the point of view of the author of the note, this provides a unique chance for the unfolding of a Catholic mission in Soviet Russia. The author puts forward specific proposals necessary, in his opinion, for the deployment of this mission. In particular, he proposes the creation of a special body to supervise missionary activity, as well as the involvement of lay people in mission.