VIEWS OF METROPOLITAN ANDREI SHEPTYTSKY REGARDING THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF CLERGY SERVANTS

Abstract

In the article, a comprehensive theoretical study of the views of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky regarding the rights and duties of the clergy of the UGCC is carried out, in particular: the implementation of spiritual guidance for the population, the spread of religious education, the construction of civil society, etc. The work examines the basic rights and duties of clerics, which were granted to them in the time of Constantine the Great, and later changed and limited in different historical eras under different conditions. Special attention is paid to the view of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi regarding the rights and duties that regulate certain areas of the clergyman’s life. The rights and obligations recorded in the legislation (the right to work, to participate in political life, to social activity, to education, cultural activities, etc.) are considered in more detail. The work consistently highlights other issues related to the economic, political and social life of the clergy. The article determines that in his numerous writings, Metropolitan Andrey paid considerable attention to civil rights and duties, since the time in which the Metropolitan acted was special, full of struggle against the regimes that were on the territory of our state, namely the Austro-Hungarian, Polish, Soviet. His views on the construction of an independent state based on moral Christian principles, which should be with the participation of the clergy, were studied. The interesting view of the Head of the Greek Catholic Church, that the education of mutual tolerance and spirituality in the people should take place through the work of clergy, was also analyzed. For this, an important role is assigned to the duty of the priest to give proper knowledge to his congregation in order to combine church and national life. It has been studied that an important role of the Church is to give proper place to material values and to reveal their relation to eternal values. Regarding this position, the metropolitan emphasized that the priest, according to his position, should defend the correct interpretation of earthly goods and show their value by his own example; the pastor is obliged to be exemplary for the society that is being formed. Thus, it is stated that the clergyman must be the leader of the people, who directs them in the direction of morality, and the metropolitan’s vision for the development of the people includes the following elements: knowledge, education of patriotism, and building public life on Christian principles.