MISSIONARY ACTIVITY OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS IN KOLOMYIA (1896–1914)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the religious-cultural and socio-charitable activities of the Society of Jesus in Kolomyia in 1896–1914. The chronological boundaries of the selected period reach from the founding of the jesuit mission house to the beginning of the First World War. In 1848, the Society of Jesus was banned in the Habsburg Empire, but only until 1852. After that, the jesuits returned to their centers in Ternopil and Lviv. Until 1896, the Order opened two new mission houses in the Lviv archdiocese, particularly in Stanislaviv and Chernivtsi. The purpose of the article is to describe the activity of the jesuits in Kolomyia: their arrival in the city, the building of the church of St. Ignatius Loyola and the spiritual work of the order. Particular attention is paid to the activity of Sodalities of our Lady and religious societies, which were founded by the Society of Jesus during this period. The source base of the study consists of documents from the archives of the Society of Jesus in Krakow, articles and reports from contemporary magazines. Missionary work of the jesuits in the Ukrainian lands of the XIX century poorly represented in domestic historiography. This scientific work should be another step in highlighting the history of the Catholic Church in the western regions of Ukraine.

Keywords: Society of Jesus, Kolomyia, Jesuits, Sodality of our Lady, Catholic Church.