Apostolic Exarchate of Lemkovschina

The creation of the Apostolic Exarchate was a reaction of the Holy See to the Tylyavsky schism , after which a significant part of the Lemko (about 17 thousand people) converted to Orthodoxy . The reason for the conversion of Lemko-Greek Catholics to Orthodoxy was the policy of Ukrainization, which was conducted by the priests from Ukraine.

In 1933, the delegation of the Lemko-Greek Catholics turned to the nuncio of Francesco Marmaji and the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Augustus Hlond, with the request to establish an independent church structure for the Lemko, separate from the Lviv Metropolis and the Przemysl Diocese. According to the 1925 concordat between the Holy See and Poland, when creating a new church structure, the Holy See was to coordinate this action with the Polish authorities. For two years, the Holy See negotiated with the Polish authorities on the creation of an independent structure for the Lemko. On February 9, 1934, an agreement was signed between the parties on a new church structure in Poland. On February 10, 1934, the Congregation for the Affairs of the Eastern Churches issued a decree "Quo aptius" , which established the Apostolic Exarchate of Lemkivshchyna, isolating it from the Lviv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

After the creation of the apostolic exarchate, the deukrainization of the apostolic exarchate began. To this end, the ordinarium of the apostolic exarchate performed the following actions:

• After the agreement with the Bishop of Przemysl on August 20, 1935, the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic priests, who had previously served among the Lemkos, were recalled to the territory of the Przemysl diocese, and in their place were priests-Rusins;
• Candidates for holy orders from the Lemkos were recalled from the Lviv and Przemysl seminaries in Ukraine and began to study in Tarnów and Dubno;
• Ukrainian liturgical chants were removed from the liturgy;

The conditions of activity of the Apostolic Exarchate of Lemkovshchina changed after the occupation of Poland in 1939 during the Second World War and the transition of Western Ukraine to the USSR. On the territory of the apostolic test there appeared numerous Ukrainian refugees. Under these conditions, Ukrainophile sentiments began to predominate in the apostolic exarchate. Under pressure from the collaborationist Ukrainian Central Committee in 1940, Ukrainophile priest Alexander Malynovsky was appointed Vicar-General of the Apostolic Exarchate, who took over most of the duties of the seriously ill administrator Yakub Medvetsky, and after his death took the place of administrator. Oleksandr Malynovsky began to pursue a policy of Ukrainization in the Apostolic Exarchate, and after the German occupation of Lvov, he supported Ukrainian nationalists.

The subsequent history of the apostolic exarchate coincided with the fate of the Lemko, who, according to the agreement between the Polish Committee of National Liberation and the USSR of September 1944, were resettled to Ukraine. It is assumed that after the end of the resettlement in 1946, about 30-40 thousand Lemko remained in the Lemkiv district (in January 1943 there were about 127 thousand people). Together with the settlers, the majority of Greek-Catholic priests also moved to Ukraine. The remaining Lemkians, Greek Catholics, due to the lack of their priests, began to practice the Latin rite . Administrator of the Apostolic Exarchate Alexander Malynovsky, fearing arrest, fled through in 1946 through Czechoslovakia to Bavaria .

The next action against the Lemko was Operation Vistula . Between April 24 and July 31, 1947, about 35 thousand Lemko were evicted to former German territories, which after the Second World War became part of Poland. A small group of Lemko survived in several localities. The churches were looted, destroyed or became the property of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

At the end of 1947, the apostolic exarchate of the Lemko region ceased to exist. After the restoration of the structures of the Greek Catholic Church in Poland, the Apostolic Exarchate was not recreated and now the believers of the Byzantine rite, living in the Lemkow district, are subject to the Peremyshl-Warsaw Metropolis of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

• Priest Mykola of Nakhoria;
• the priest Vasiliy Mastsyukh (December 11, 1934 - March 10, 1936);
• priest Ioan Polyansky;
• the priest Yakov Medvetsky (July 13, 1937 - January 27, 1941);
• the priest Alexander Malynovsky (February 5, 1941 - 1945);
• priests Stepan Yodlovsky, Ioan Podgorbny, Andrei Zlupko - vicar generals until the spring of 1946;
• Priest Andrei Zlupko - Vicar General since April 1, 1947;
• the priests Vladimir Gaidukevich and Pavel Shuflat - vicar generals in 1947.

• Decree of the Quo aptius , AAS 27 (1935), p. 80 (lat.)
• Paul Best, Apostolska Administracja Łemkowszczyzny 1934–1944 , in: Polska-Ukraina. 1000 lat sąsiedztwa. Tom 4 - Katolickie unie kościelne w
• Krzysztof Nowakowski, Apostolska Administracja Łemkowszczyzny w latach 1939-1947 , in: Polska-Ukraina. 1000 lat sąsiedztwa. Tom 3 - Studia z dziejów greckokatolickiej diecezji przemyskiej , Stanisław Stępień (a cura di), Południowo-Wschodni Instytut Naukowy w Przemyślu, Przemyśl 1998
• Stanisław Stępień, Organizacja i struktura terytorialna greckokatolickiej diecezji przemyskiej w latach 1918-1939 , in: Polska-Ukraina. 1000 lat sąsiedztwa. Tom 3 - Studia z dziejów greckokatolickiej diecezji przemyskiej , Stanisław Stępień (a cura di), Południowo-Wschodni Instytut Naukowy w Przemyślu, Przemyśl 1998
• Damian Nowak, Przyczynek historii greckokatolickiego dekanatu dukielskiego , in: Płaj. Almanach karpacki , nr 30.

• Information (English)
• Mariusz Ryńca, Administracja Apostolska Łemkowszczyzny (Polish)