Catholicism in Crimea

Christianity in Crimea has an ancient history. According to legend, the apostle Andrew the First-Called was the first to preach here. Also, according to legend, it was in the Crimea around 97 that Saint Clement , pope , was martyred.

At the beginning of the 4th century, Constantine the Great gave Christianity the status of the state religion of the Roman Empire . During this period, Rome belonged to the former Greek settlements of the Bosporus kingdom and Chersonese . The rest of the Crimea was captured in the III century by the German tribe Goths . Christian missionaries conducted quite successful missionary activity among the Goths. After the legalization of Christianity in the territory of Crimea, two dioceses arose - the Bosporus (with its center in Panticapaeum, modern Kerch ), and Kherson. The Bosporus and bishop participated in the Council of Nicene 325 , the bishop of Chersonesos Epheria signed the acts of the First Council of Constantinople in 381 .

At the end of the IV century, after the collapse of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern , Crimea was in the sphere of interests of Constantinople . In 655, Saint Martin I , pope of Rome, who was exiled here by the Byzantine emperor for condemning Monothelitism, died in Chersonesos. In the VIII century, a large number of icon worshipers migrated from Asia Minor to the Crimea, persecuted by iconoclasts who came to power. The number of dioceses increased to 5. In the VIII century, the Sourozh (with a center in Sudak ), the Gothic and Full (dioceses of unknown location) were created ^[2] . In the IX century Chersonesos was visited by enlighteners of the Slavs Saints Cyril and Methodius , who affirmed the faith of local residents. Cyril removed from the Crimea some of the relics of St. Clement and presented them to Pope Adrian II . The cult of St. Clement became in this period in Crimea paramount.

Genoese Colonies

After the temporary defeat of the Byzantine Empire as a result of the fourth Crusade ( 1204 ), the Principality of Theodoro was formed on the territory of the former Byzantine possessions. The state religion of the principality was Orthodoxy , the official language was Greek, and the population was a multi-ethnic conglomerate with a predominance of Greeks and Crimean Goths . In 1223, the steppe Crimea was captured by the Tatar-Mongols and became the ulus of the Golden Horde .

In 1266, under an agreement with the Horde in Crimea, the first Genoese colony appeared - Kaffa ( Feodosia ). Subsequently, Genoa expanded its possessions in the Crimea, having conquered the entire southern coast by the 14th century from Venice and Theodoro. A significant number of priests and missionaries, mainly from the Franciscan order, arrived in the Genoese colonies. The Franciscans, in addition to feeding the Catholics in the Genoa factories, carried out missionary work among the local Turkic-speaking population, in particular, they translated the Bible into the Tatar (Kypchak) language and compiled the famous monument of the Kypchak language - Codex Cumanicus . Modern historians do not have information about how successful missionary activity was among the local population. In 1318, Pope John XXII established the Catholic Diocese of Kaffa, led by the Franciscan pastor Jeronimo. In 1332 a diocese was created in Vosporo ( Kerch ) and Chersonese , in 1357 in Cembalo ( Balaclava ), and in 1365 in Soldaye ( Sudak ). By the 15th century, there were about 20 Catholic churches and two monasteries in Kaffa ^[3] . After the collapse of the Golden Horde and the formation of the Crimean Khanate in the middle of the 15th century, the position of the Genoese colonies did not change significantly.

Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire

In 1475, the prosperity of the colonies came to an end, they, along with the lands of the Principality of Theodoro, were captured by the Ottoman Empire . A significant part of the Italian population died during the conquest, and most of the surviving Ottoman sultan Mehmed II resettled Constantinople to his capital. A small group of Italian Catholics moved under the protection of the Crimean Khan Mengli I Gerai, who promised him his protection. Khan settled them in the village of Syur-Tash (now Belokamennoye of the Bakhchisarai district ), located in a mountainous area south of Bakhchisarai . The Italians were granted the rights of the nobility, and they were often attracted to the diplomatic service. Later, the Catholic community moved to the village of Foti-Sala , also located near Bakhchisaray. The community gradually assimilated with the surrounding Greek and Crimean Tatar population. According to the Caffin prefect, the Dominican d'Ascoli, at the beginning of the 17th century there were only 12 Catholic families, and by the middle of the 18th century there were no Catholics at all in Fot Sala.

In the XVII century , during the wars with the Commonwealth, the Ottomans and Crimeans captured a large number of captured Catholic Poles. In 1612–1639, a Dominican mission operated in Kaffa, which conducted pastoral work among prisoners. At the beginning of the XVIII century, thanks to the political rapprochement between France and the Ottoman Empire, the French Jesuits were able to operate in the Crimea and even build a small Catholic church in Bakhchisarai. In 1740, however, this mission was abolished by order of the khan.

Another group of Catholics in the Khan and Ottoman Crimea was made up of parishioners of the Armenian Catholic Church . Most (over 90%) of Crimean Armenians belonged to the Armenian Apostolic Church , but everywhere where the Armenians lived (at that time they lived in all major cities of Crimea), there were also small Armenian Catholic communities. In the middle of the XVIII century, the number of Armenian Catholics in Crimea was estimated at several hundred people. ^[four]

As part of the Russian Empire

In the 19th century, a large number of immigrants appeared in Crimea, professing Catholicism, mainly Poles, Germans, and Italians. The immigrants arrived both voluntarily and involuntarily; the latter included mainly exiled Poles. At this time, a large number of Catholic churches were built here: in Yalta , Kerch , Sevastopol , Simferopol and several villages. Count M. S. Vorontsov , married to the Polish princess Branitskaya, built a Catholic church in Alupka . In Simferopol, in addition to the Latin temple, there was also an Armenian Catholic church. In 1914, the total number of Catholics of Latin and Armenian rites in Simferopol was 2 182 people. According to the 1897 Census of the Russian Empire, 23,393 Catholics lived in the Tauride province ^[5] . The Catholic Church of Crimea administratively belonged to the Tiraspol diocese .

In the 20th century

After the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, the Catholic Church in Crimea, as well as throughout the country, was persecuted. In the 1920s and 1930s, all the Catholic churches of the peninsula were closed, and priests were repressed. In 1926 A.I. Frison was secretly ordained bishop Michel d'Erbigny and was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Odessa and southern parts of the Tiraspol Diocese (Crimea, Odessa, Taganrog, Nikolaev, Kherson, Rostov-on-Don). The Soviet authorities learned about ordination , in 1929 Frison was arrested in Simferopol, two years later released, but soon again arrested. In 1936, by a decision of the Special Collegium of the Regional Court of Crimea, he was sentenced to capital punishment and executed a year later.

The restoration of the normal activities of the Catholic Church began in 1991 . Catholic parishes were registered in all large cities of Crimea, divine services resumed. The main problem of the Catholic Church of Crimea in the late XX - early XXI centuries was the return of historical churches, as well as the construction of new churches to replace the destroyed ones.

Since May 2002, Crimea has been part of the Odessa-Simferopol diocese , headed by Bishop Bronislav Bernatsky . Arrivals of Crimea are combined into the only Crimean Vicariate in the entire diocese ^[6] . According to the data at the beginning of 2015, in the parishes of Crimea, Bishop Jacek Dust and six priests are serving on an ongoing basis ^[7] .

In 2014, the diocese was divided by the state border, which did not lead to canonical consequences. Bishop Ordinary Bronislav Bernatsky has his residence in Odessa , and Bishop Assistant Jacek Dust arrived in Crimea in March 2014, receiving permission from the Russian authorities for permanent residence ^[8] , on December 22, 2014, the Apostolic See appointed him Delegate of the Pastoral District Crimea and Sevastopol, which, in accordance with an agreement with the authorities of the Russian Federation, was created exclusively for administrative purposes, so that the Catholic Church could continue to function normally in Crimea. The Vatican does not officially recognize the annexation of Crimea to Russia ^[9] . At the same time, it should be noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland on December 2, 2014 issued a recommendation to all citizens of Poland to immediately leave the territory of Crimea and Sevastopol and in no case to enter there ^[10] .

Currently, in Crimea there are 9 Catholic parishes of the Latin rite ^[11] :

• Sevastopol
• Yalta
• Simferopol
• Theodosius
• Evpatoria
• Jankoy
• Kerch
• with. Lobanovo, Dzhankoy district
• with. Kolchugino, Simferopol district

In the parish in Yevpatoria, priests of the congregation serve as clad missionaries of the Immaculate Virgin Mary , in Sevastopol - Marian , in Yalta - Dominicans , in Feodosia - Franciscans . Other parishes are fed by diocesan priests. The total number of Latin Roman Catholics in Crimea, according to Bishop Jacek Pyl, is about 1,000 people ^[1] .

In Simferopol, Evpatoria, Kerch, Yalta and Sevastopol, there are also parishes of the Byzantine rite . In March 2016, they were re-registered under Russian law as local religious organizations as part of the Crimean Exarchate of the Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite, specially established and subordinate directly to the Vatican State Secretariat.

Of the five surviving historical buildings of the Church, only the Yalta and Kerch churches operate; the Sevastopol temple, converted into a cinema in Soviet times, was returned to the community on June 20, 2018, but the building is undergoing repair and restoration work; the temples in Aleksandrovka, Kolchugino, and Aromatny were transferred to the possession of the Orthodox Church by the state authorities. In Simferopol, Feodosia and Yevpatoriya, where churches were destroyed during the Soviet period, new Catholic churches were built.

The surviving historical temples:

• Church of St. Clement (Sevastopol) . Built in 1911 . During the Second World War, the building was badly damaged by bombing. In 1958, the building was rebuilt into a cinema. Sevastopol parish of St. Clement holds divine services in the chapel of St. Clement equipped in a former apartment. In May 2018, the building of the former temple was transferred to the Catholic community ^[12] .

• . Built in 1906 . In Soviet times, the funds of the Yalta Historical Museum were located there, in 1988 the house of organ and chamber music was opened in the building, but after three years the church was transferred to believers.

• Church of the Assumption of the Virgin (Kerch). Built by the Italian community in 1840 in the style of classicism . In Soviet times, turned into a sports hall. After the transfer of the temple of the Church was restored 6 years ^[13]

• The temple in the village of Kolchugino . At the beginning of the 20th century, Catholic and Lutheran churches existed in a village then called Kronental and inhabited by Germans. In the 1990s, the Catholic church was transferred to the Orthodox community ( UOC MP ). In response to a request from local Catholics for the return of the church, they were given a Lutheran temple, which no one claimed. Currently, all restoration work has been completed and regular services are underway ^[14] .

• Catholic church of the Heart of Jesus Christ in the village of Aleksandrovka. Built by the Czech community in 1910. In the 30s it was closed and turned into a warehouse. At present, it is in a dilapidated state and requires serious restoration ^[15] .

Shattered:

• Temple in the city of Simferopol. Destroyed in 1974. Currently, the Catholic parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary conducts services in a private house converted into a temple.
• Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in the city of Feodosia. Ruined. The Catholic parish got the opportunity to build a new building.
• Temple in the city of Evpatoria. Ruined. The Catholic parish got the opportunity to build a new building.

• “Crimea” // Catholic Encyclopedia. Ed. Franciscans. V.2, M.: 2005.

• The Catholic Church in Crimea. Official site
• The site of the parish of St. Martin in Yevpatoriya
• Site of the Parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Yalta