The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 4 (190), 1001—1022
UDK 271.4(477.83/.86)-726″18/19″(092)
DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/nz2026.04.1001
- Received: 02.07.2026
- Accepted: 17.07.2026
- Published: 23.09.2026
FATHER ILLIA YATSIV — A GREEK CATHOLIC PARISH PRIEST IN THE CONDITIONS OF A TOTALITARIAN STATE
TARAS Yaroslav
- ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7241-9466
- Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor,
- Institute of Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,
- Head of the Modern Ethnology Department,
- 15, Svobody Avenue, 79000, Lviv, Ukraine;
- Lviv Polytechnic National University,
- Department of Architecture and Conservation,
- 12, Bandery str., 79013, Lviv, Ukraine,
- Contacts: e-mail: etnomod@ukr.net
Abstract. The scholarly study and interpretation of the life and pastoral ministry of Father Illia Yatsiv is a relevant and important task for Ukrainian historical scholarship, as only a limited number of studies have been devoted to rural parish priests.
The purpose of this article is to analyse the activities of a rural parish priest in the context of the socio-political processes of the interwar period and the existence of the Church in Western Ukraine during the 1940s—1960s. The subject of the study is the life and pastoral ministry of Fr. Illia Yatsiv. The source base for the research consists of documents from the Yatsiv family archive.
The choice of research methods was determined by the specificity of the source material and is based on documents from the Yatsiv family archive as well as field materials collected by the author. The study employs the principles of historicism, systematicity, objectivity, and comprehensiveness, together with general logical and theoretical methods.
The novelty of the research lies in introducing into academic circulation documents from the private archive of the Yatsiv family, along with the author’s field research materials. Based on the life and pastoral ministry of Fr. Illia Yatsiv, the article demonstrates how the Church functioned under the conditions of a totalitarian state and under the pressure of its punitive repressive system.
Two distinct periods can be identified in the life of Fr. Illia Yatsiv. The first period (1891—1939) encompasses the formation of his worldview, his childhood and youth, his secondary-school education, priestly ordination, and pastoral ministry in the village of Holeshiv. The second period (1939—1963) covers his ministry under the pressure of the Soviet repressive regime, marked by constant psychological strain and the continual threat of arrest and deportation because of his alleged connections with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
Keywords: Illia Yatsiv, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Galicia, clergy, Holeshiv.
