CHRISTIAN CLERGY IN THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL REVIVAL OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE XIXth – THE FIRST THIRD OF THE XXth CENTURY: MODERN HISTORIOGRAPHY

of the Article: (2020). Christian clergy in the Ukrainian national revival of the second half of the XIXth – the first third of the modern historiography. Abstract. The purpose of the research – to represent and analyze the latest studies on the history of cultural, educational, social and national organizing activities of the clergy during the period of the Ukrainian national and cultural revival of the second half of the XIXth – the first third of The process analysis of knowledge accumulation on the history of the clergy illustrates the following: historians focus on the study of cultural, educational, social work of the Orthodox, the Greek-Catholic and the Protestant clergy. It is on the basis of this principle that the historians are united into three so-called “Departments of Historiography”. The historians consider the social mission of the Orthodox priests in a dualistic way, noting both their commitment to the Russian hierarchy as well as the national aspirations of some Orthodox priests to fight for the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy. The historians analyze the activities of the Greek-Catholic priests in the context of their orientation to an active socio-political activity, emphasizing the Ukrainian priorities of their ecclesiastical and national identity. Instead, the historians elucidate the initiatives of the Protestants in the context of the new socio-economic realities of the imperial era (ethics of capitalism), emphasizing the significant contribution of the Protestant pastors to the development of interreligious relations in Ukraine during the period under analysis. A positive feature of a modern historiography is the erosion of the Soviet atheistic historiographical paradigm and historians’ refusal from the one-sided reception of the historical process. The fact is also important that the vast majority of historians, who specialized in religion and church, did not mechanically change their atheistic approach to a confessional one, but they still adhere to a rationalist research paradigm, forming scientific postulates on the priorities of scientificity, objectivity and a confessional neutrality.

Ключові слова: українське національно-культурне відродження, українська новітня історіографія, "історіографічна катедра ", релігія, церква, духовенство, православні священики, греко-католицькі священики, протестантизм, духовність, клерикальність, релігійно-церковне відродження. The Problem Statement. Each period of the Ukrainian national history, phenomenon or event has its creators. In the academic narrative, they are called differently -passionaries, "awakeners", leaders and heroes. The Ukrainian history legitimized the postulate that the engines of social progress can be alternately both: a political elite as well as intelligentsia, who during different periods performed a historically determined mission. This was also during the imperial era of the Ukrainian national revival -in the place of the political struggle for the state independence, a spiritual and cultural revival was widely developed, which was headed by literary, scientific, artistic, pedagogical and clerical intelligentsia. The clergy, primarily of the Greek-Catholics, and to a lesser extent of the Orthodox and Protestant denominations, played an exceptional role in the constellation of cultural and national "awakeners" of that period.
In general, historical experience illustrates the fact that the role of one of the cementing enzymes of the Ukrainian nation was always played by a religious factor, because religion and spirituality were the basis of a cultural uplift during the so-called stateless periods of national progress such as the early New Age (restoration of the Orthodox hierarchy, the activities of Peter Mohyla, book publishing, etc.) and the era of a national cultural revival (a religious substantiation of the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy, a national educational activity of the Greek-Catholic clergy, the struggle for the autocephalous church, etc.). The interest in religious issues is growing at the present stage of the Ukrainian independence. The spiritual and religious intentions of a social dialogue acquire the status of an important component and a necessary basis for building a democratic society. Nowadays, once again during the national independence of Ukraine, the public demand for a universal recognition of the acquired locus of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is urgent and acute, and the civic position of giving it an equal status in the family of the Orthodoxy world sounds more confident. Such processes are quite natural, because the society is increasingly aware of the fact that religion and church are a necessary component of building the state and civic institutions. Religion and church play the role of a valueable semantic foundation of a national, cultural and spiritual revival.
In the modern historical knowledge, the history of religions and church life gradually acquires the status of a full-fledged subject of the study. This is, primarily, due to the democratization of a historical discourse, modernization of the methodology of the Ukrainian historical science on the basis of civilizational and socio-cultural tools, as well as getting rid of the Soviet stereotypes and atheistic stereotypes in reproducing the content of the Ukrainian national history. New functions of a modern historiography require systematization and understanding of the works on the church-religious life of Ukraine, which will significantly contribute to the actualization and rehabilitation of the essential role of religion and church in modern socio-cultural, socio-political and foreign integration strategies.
The Analysis of Sources and Recent Researches. In modern historical science, a large number of researches have been devoted to the functioning of denominations and the activities of the clergy in the Ukrainian lands of the Russian-Austrian period, the era of the Ukrainian national democratic revolution and the first years of the Bolshevik atheistic rule. At the same time, the historiographical understanding is much more modest. The following historians conducted the studies on the review of the modern researches on the cultural and educational activities of the Orthodox clergy: S. Hladkyi (1997) At the same time, due to the democratization of a public life and the erosion of the atheistic scientific paradigm, nowadays historians have new opportunities to study a wide but academically sporadically updated layer of religious and church clerical history. The scientific space is replenished with new historical syntheses, which deal with the activities of the Orthodox, the Greek-Catholic and the Protestant clergy during the second half of the XIXth -the first third of the XXth century. This, in its turn, determines the importance of a historiographical systematization and understanding, and thus, actualization in the context of modern challenges.
The Purpose of the Article. The article deals with the historiographical analysis of the modern studies on the history of cultural, educational, social and national organizing activities of the clergy during the period of the Ukrainian national and cultural revival of the second half of the XIXth -the first third of the XXth century. First of all, attention will be paid to the presentation of scientific works on the history of the Orthodox, the Greek-Catholic, the Protestant clergy, as well as the clergy of the Ukrainian old believers.
The Statement of the Basic Material. Typical features of modern historiography, dealing with the study of the progress of the church-religious tradition of Christianity in Ukraine, is the formation of new historiographical schools, which can be called the Ukrainian Orthodox, the Greek-Catholic and the Protestant concepts. Some of the historiographical schools representatives are characterized by the legitimation of a confessional methodology, which leads to a somewhat engaged coverage of historical events, reveals the desire of the authors to recognize a particular denomination the main spiritual and institutional representative of the Ukrainian people (Mesha, 2008, р. 234). At the same time, the vast majority of historians, who specialize in religion and church, follow a rationalist approach, forming scientific postulates on the priorities of the modern methodology of a historical science.
Among the large array of publications the publishing projects "History of Religions in Ukraine" are of a theoretical and methodological significance for the coverage of the place and role of the Christian clergy in the national movement (А. Kolognyi (1997Kolognyi ( , 1999Kolognyi ( , 2001Kolognyi ( , 2008Kolognyi ( , 2002 and P. Yarotskyi (1997,2001,2002,2008)) and "History of the Church and Religious Thought in Ukraine" (О. Kryzhanivsky, S. Plokhiy (1994)). In these scientific syntheses there was initiated a systematic study of the interaction and mutual influences of religious church and cultural educational activities of the clergy during the process of a national cultural revival. On the basis of a rich set of thematic primary sources historians covered not only the social, confessional and legal status of the clergy, but also considered the clergy's activities in a wide range of interfaith relations, studied the educational, scientific (theological) activities of priests. The image of the clergy appears in the whole set of contemporary religious ecclesiastical and socio-political contradictions.
At the same time, the majority of researches on the analysis of the social status, activities and significance of the priesthood in the development of the national life of the Ukrainians still specialize in accordance with three major Christian denominations. That is why, in our opinion, all existing studies should be systematized into three groups, which, according to the specifics of the topic, we will name "Department of Historiography" -the thematic and metaphorical term (in association with the church institutional idea of the department as a symbol of the bishop's power and the unity of the clergy of a particular denomination). The departments of historiography combine scientific researches on the history of the Orthodox, the Greek-Catholic and the Protestant clergy of the period under study.
The first "Department of Historiography" represents the scientific works in which the place and role of the Orthodox clergy in the Ukrainian social and national processes of the second half of the XIXth -the first third of the XXth century were analyzed. Among the rich cohort of scientists, the priority in studying this topic belonged to such historians as: А. Boyko (2002) The majority of historians, who analyzed the activities of the Orthodox Church, is characterized by the recognition of the involvement of the Orthodox clergy in the development of the Ukrainian national and cultural movement of the ХІХth -beginning of the ХХth century. Thus, in the researches of P. Slobodyaniuk and V. Mesha it is emphasized that during the period of a national revival Ukrainophile tendencies spread among the clergy of Ukrainian dioceses, the clergy's resistance to Russification grew, which manifested itself in the modernization of educational and cultural activities of the church (Slobodianiuk, 2000;Mesha, 2007). Illustrating the relevant theses on the example of Volyn Orthodox clergy, O. Rybko wrote in the article that in 1917, at the meeting of the diocese the priests supported the autonomy of Ukraine, approved the introduction of the Ukrainian language and ethnography of the native land in theological schools (Rybko, 2013, p. 136). Emphasizing the involvement of the clergy of the Orthodox Church in revolutionary and social events, the clergy's focus on the Ukrainization and democratization of the church sphere, the historians paid attention to the factors, which put back the social initiatives of nationally conscious priests: the confrontation of the conservative wing of the pro-Russian clergy, misunderstanding of the ultimate social goal, destabilization of economic life, and etc. (Rybko, 2013, p. 139).
The historians emphasized that in the Ukrainian lands, during the imperial era, Orthodoxy developed in the forefront of the Russian Church. That is why, in historical syntheses a special place belonged to the understanding of the differences between the spiritual mentality of the Ukrainian and Russian clergy, which were manifested at the end of the ХІХth century. In particular, O. Sahan wrote about this, who among the features of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy, singled out the priests' orientation to the idea of catholicity and the absence of a rigorous Caesaro-Papist tradition, the peace of an interfaith life, the integration of national rites into church ceremonies, etc. (Sahan, 2001, рp. 82-172).
The monograph "Confessional and Social aspects of the Development of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine in 1875 -1900" by V. Mesha is important for understanding the evolution of the Orthodox clergy's role in the socio-cultural processes of the last quarter of the ХІХth century (Mesha, 2007). The historian, based on a rich array of primary sources, proposed a general portrait of the clergy of that period. Among the clergy's characteristics, he called a high level of education, the focus on democracy and catholicity in church government, which manifested itself in the election of priests, unwillingness to aggravate interfaith relations. The historian's assumption was also interesting: an insignificant popularity among the clergy of monastic asceticism was due to the mental characteristics of the Ukrainians, their cultural and historical development and the hybrid composition of the population. V. Mesha, like other fellow researchers, emphasized that the Orthodox clergy took an active part in a public, national and interfaith life and, despite the Russian jurisdiction, had a significant authority and ideological influence among the Ukrainians. The historians stated that the social status of the priest was determined by his functions during the pre-revolutionary era. The priest was a teacher of the faith, he satisfied the needs of his fold, a ruler of the parish, a keeper of jewels, a caretaker of church buildings. In addition, the priest was entrusted with numerous responsibilities of a secular nature, including notarial functions: keeping metric books, etc. (Kyrydon, 2005, p. 320).
An attribute of a modern historiography was the consideration of the activities of the Orthodox clergy in the context of the socio-cultural portrait of the intelligentsia of that period (Kasianov, 1993;Danylenko, 2013). The clergy was not homogeneous in terms of values and ideology. S. Danylenko wrote about this: "On the one hand, a part of the Ukrainian clergy grew stronger, who, after finishing the Russian school and breaking away from the masses, became very similar to the Russian clergy, increasingly distanced themselves from the people, faithfully served the tsar, and on the other hand -there grew the part of the Ukrainian clergy, who did not lose their national roots, signs of a national and religious mentality, showed interest in people's lives, the desire to promote a national and cultural revival" (Danylenko, 2013, p. 128).
In addition, the historian emphasized that a clear evidence of the national and cultural potential of the Orthodox clergy was the fact that many well-known politicians, educators, scientists and cultural figures originated either from priestly families or obtained a clerical education themselves. We should mention the following personalities among them: V. Domanytsky, P. Fylypovych, E. Borysov, S. Petliura, V. Blakytny, V. Holubovych, V. Sadovsky, E. Terletsky, O. Salikovsky, S. Yefremov, O. Lototsky, V. Durdukivsky and the others. The clergy's children, due to the possibilities of their parents, had a more open access to education, and the Ukrainian element of a rural life contributed to the formation of a national self-consciousness, their own national "Ego" (Danylenko, 2013, p. 128).
Analyzing the activities of the Orthodox clergy, the historians stated that one of the clergy's most important vectors was the spread of printed periodicals. We mean, primarily, the diocesan periodicals, such as the "Kyiv Diocesan Journal", the "Chernihiv Diocesan Journal", the "Poltava Diocesan Journal" and the others. Scientists such as A. Boyko (2002), L. Denysko (2001), and O. Chyrkova (1998) devoted the scientific researches to the study of the information package, authorship and content of the published materials. Of a particular informative value was the system catalogue of the religious Orthodox periodicals of the XIXth -the beginning of the XXth centuries compiled by L. Denysko. The religious Orthodox periodicals are available to the researcher in the funds of V. I. Vernadsky NLU (Denysko, 2001). The historians emphasized that at that time the content of the Orthodox Church's press was largely subordinated to the ideological line of the Russian Empire and the national peculiarities of the Orthodoxy were ignored and silenced.
In recent historiography, the issues of a material support of the Orthodox clergy were also considered. Thus, I. Shuhaleva stated that at the end of the XIXth century the situation of both rural and urban parish clergy was difficult and largely depended on the donations of parishioners. Priests had three sources of income: church land, payment for needs and public maintenance, but the income from the sources was not always enough for the priest and his family (Shuhaleva, 2011, p. 69). We find interesting the description of a typical parish priest's portrait, which was proposed by H. Stepanenko: "... has no stable material base, is in a constant care of bread for his, mostly large, family, oppressed by the state authorities and diocesan bishops, despised by a liberal society" (Stepanenko, 2004, p. 47). Priests interacted mainly with the peasantry. As V. Mesha wrote, the peasantry, being the main bearer of the Orthodox faith and the most massive participant in all social processes, became the main object of care on the part of the Orthodox clergy. This interaction was complex and contradictory both in form and consequences. Pastors were involved both into security and peacekeeping activities among peasants, and in the direct support of one of the sides in social conflicts, which weakened the authority of the church (Mesha, Pravoslavna tserkva..., 2008, p. 175).
During World War I the situation and opportunities for cultural and educational activities of the Orthodox parish clergy in the Ukrainian lands in the Russian Empire became more complicated. Priests, along with the fold, felt a full burden of the war. However, they did not stop educating people. They spread Christianity and preached the Orthodox morality. Thus, "The Diocesan Journal" of all dioceses (there were 9) published sermons of a religious and patriotic content. The journal called on the population to help the state during the war. Priests also acted as a kind of psychologists, took care of infirmaries, conducted spiritual, educational and explanatory agitative work (Stepanenko, 2004, рp. 49-50).
The historians also emphasize that the national liberation struggle of 1917 -1921, although significantly influenced the socio-political changes in the the clergy's state, did little to improve the material situation of the clergy. Instead, the Bolshevik government, in general, intended to liquidate the church institution by starting the case of requisitioning the church property (Shuhalova, 2011, p. 71).
A. Kiridon's extensive research is devoted to the peculiarities of the activity of the clergy ("ministers of the cult") during the Soviet era of the 1920-ies and the 1930-ies. The historian analyzed thoroughly the personnel and social composition of the clergy, considered the issues of the clergy's education and training, drew attention to the fiscal system of the Bolsheviks, who imposed enormous taxes on the clergy, both in cash and natural goods. The researcher emphasized that the marginalized position of priests was due to the official atheistic course of the state: "In the Soviet reality of the 20-30-ies of the previous century the clergy was faced with the need to solve quite difficult problems, in particular, concerning the determination of their place in the social structure, the functioning of parishes, the struggle for the masses in opposition to the communist ideology, the position concerning the course of the intra-church struggle, the provision of an elementary physical existence, etc." (Kyrydon, 2005, p. 320).
In general, the cultural and educational activities of the Orthodox clergy of the Ukrainian national revival are quite widely reflected in modern historiography. Historians, without doubting the significant contribution of the Orthodox clergy to the spiritual, religious and cultural development of the Ukrainians of that period, nevertheless emphasized the significant influence of the Russian Orthodoxy, which eliminated the development of the national component in the Ukrainian Orthodox environment. At the same time, historians emphasized that the Orthodox clergy made significant efforts to spread the biblical truths, moral and ethical principles of the individual's existence in the society, which resulted in a significant religiosity of the population of that period.
If in the segment of a socio-cultural activity of the Orthodox clergy the national intentions were not widely developed, more successful were the initiatives of the Greek-Catholic clergy of the western Ukrainian lands, who won the status of "awakeners" of the national revival. Thus, at the second "Department of Historiography" we united the scientific studies that represent the social status and cultural, educational activities of the Greek-Catholic clergy. These are historical works of such scientists as R. Deliatynsky (2017) (1994,2000,2001,2003), I.-P. Khymka (1993) and the others. In the field of view of the historians are the following issues: the social status of the Greek-Catholic clergy, their social, educational and cultural activities, the specifics of a spiritual ecclesiology and civic identity and etc.
The historians, first of all, drew attention to the fact that the peculiarity of the status of the Greek-Catholic clergy was their integration into an active social, cultural and educational life. One of the vivid illustrations of a secular context of the priests' work was their activity in reading-rooms, educational institutions, participation in public events. N. Kolb noted that the priests were the founders and leaders of reading-rooms, took an active part in discussing socio-political and socio-economic issues. In the reading-rooms, the priests took care of both socio-political, cultural artistic education of the population. They developed a sense of patriotism, deepened the spirituality of the population, explained the importance of historical, cultural and artistic values. In addition, pastors organized libraries, poetry, theatre and music parties (Kolb, 2010, p. 330-331).
One of the key theses of the historiography of the Greek-Catholic church was the issue that it played an exceptional role in the formation of the Ukrainian national consciousness and became a catalyst for the development of the Ukrainian national movement in Western Ukraine during the second half of the ХІХth century. O. Turyi, wrote about this, in particular. He drew attention to the historical origins and formal features of the church: "... different church and ritual affiliation under the conditions of underdeveloped national consciousness was the formal barrier that marked the boundaries between the Ukrainian -a Greek-Catholic and the Polish -a Roman-Catholic. And this factor in the daily life of the average Galician was much more important and had "a practical implementation" than any dogmatic postulates or jurisdictional connections" (Turij, 2003, рp. 68-69).
The historians paid attention to the special status of the Union Church in Galicia, which determined the exceptional mission of the Greek-Catholic priests in the development of a national revival -they performed the duties of "awakeners", intensified a public life, involved the population into cultural, educational, national and political activities (Turij, 2000, p. 115). During the second half of the ХІХth -the beginning of the ХХth century the place and role of the Greek-Catholic hierarchy changed: from cultural and educational initiatives to an active participation in the socio-political life of Galicia.
The above-mentioned historian, N. Kolb, noted that since the 90-ies of the ХХth century the Greek-Catholic parish clergy had been successfully integrated into various spheres of life of the Galicians of that time, among which the historian singled out the following: a political activity (participation of priests in the organization of election campaigns, which was considered not only a civic but also a pastoral duty; the support for various political forces and social movements, which contained a significant image and reputational risks for the clergy); a socio-economic activity (priests were the founders of economic centers, warehouses, church shops, organized the publication of the magazine "Master", they were the members of "The Dniester" society, helped the population in matters of preservation and acquisition of property, took care of the fate of emigrants, etc.); a cultural, educational activity (defending the equal position of the Ukrainian language, organizing spelling discussions, campaigning for the publication of religious books in the Ukrainian language for the people, teaching the basics of religion at schools, a patriotic upbringing of youth, work in reading-rooms of "Prosvita", creation of choirs in parishes, books publishing of a spiritual, religious content, etc.). The result of such activities, as summarized by N. Kolb, was that "... the Greek-Catholic parish clergy formed a numerous and important component of the Ukrainian Galician intelligentsia, retained influential social positions.This position of pastors was caused by the fact that, in addition to caring for the spiritual and religious life of the faithful, they were given the task to be a leader -an active participant in the national and socio-political movement. This combination provided the clergy with a high authority and a considerable influence on the social processes, but put the clergy under conditions of particularly high expectations, meticulous and harsh assessment by both: the politically active part of the society and the average citizen. It was the socio-political, not pastoral activity of the presbyter that often became the main measure of his influence and authority in the community, determined the position of the clergy in the society" (Kolb, 2013, рp. 283-299).
A separate subject of historians' researches was the topic of a spiritual and national identity of the Greek-Catholic clergy. The historians paid attention to the clergy's duality and ambivalence. When it came to spirituality, priests were in two guises: they could both actualize their Orthodox origin and appeal to their Catholic affiliation. The position was different when it came to the national and political issues. The Union priests emphasized the peculiarities of the Orthodox Church tradition. This situation had a positive effect on the development of the Ukrainian identity and played the role of a preventive mechanism for the assimilation processes. O. Turiy noted that the inclination to Latin jurisdiction (the risk of Latin influence and Polishization) was balanced by the glorification of the Eastern tradition, which, at the same time, lowered the risks of Russification. It was this position and ambivalence that allowed the clergy not to succumb to either the pro-Polish or pro-Russian appeals, and thus to form and spread among the population their own Ukrainian spiritual and cultural national identity (Turij, 2003, рp. 75-76).
Comparing the level of participation of the Orthodox and Union clergy in the public life of the Ukrainians, historians emphasized both similarities and differences. Among the common features there were, first of all, awareness of the importance of the religious factor in the process of a national revival and the priority of spiritual and ecclesial dimensions over political and national ones. Instead, the differences indicated the level of participation in a public life, the scale of cultural and educational activities, the level of awareness of a national identity and the clergy's own mission in the promotion of the national movement.
In the context of interfaith relations, the historians also analyze the situation of the Greek-Catholic clergy in the Ukrainian lands that were the part of Russia, for instance, in Volyn. The scientific works by I. Balias (2013), B. Boyko (2010), S. Zhyliuk (2010), N. Stokolos (2003 and the others deal with this topic. The historians noted that after the Polish uprising of 1830 -1831, in which the Russian government accused Uniate priests, the process of liquidation of the Greek-Catholic Church in Volyn began. It was carried out in stages -from the destruction of the Basilian Order and the change of rituals of the Greek-Catholics to the abolition of the Union in 1839 (Balias, 2013, рp. 141-142).
As we can see, a modern historiographical tradition has accumulated a considerable material, which generally gives a holistic and comprehensive picture of a spiritual and cultural mission of the Greek-Catholic clergy in the development and rise of the Ukrainian national movement in Western Ukraine. The historians substantiated the postulate that it was the Greek-Catholic clergy, who fulfilled the historical mission of "awakeners" of the Ukrainian society, and the clergy's socio-cultural activities were the center of a spiritual, cultural, educational and social life of the region.
At the third "Department of Historiography" we have grouped the historical researches, which deal with the activities of the Protestant pastors and the clergy of other religious movements, such as the Old Believers. Despite the fact that Protestantism did not become widespread in the Ukrainian society of the imperial era, there are still many historical studies on this issue. Nowadays, there are several scientific schools for the study of the Ukrainian Protestantism, the leading centers of which are located in Kyiv and Poltava Sitarchuk (2001, 2005, 2009), N. Stokolos (2003, O. Utkin, P. Yarotsky (2002,2008) and the others.
The historians analyzed the development of Protestantism in Ukraine in the expansive context of their enlightenment and culture, scientific, literary and social activities. The historians noted that during the second half of the ХІХth century, late Protestant movements became widespread in Ukraine -pentecostalism, adventism, which, along with baptism, occupied a prominent place in the socio-cultural life of that period. The researchers noted the hostile attitude of the Orthodox Church of that period to the activity spread of the Protestant pastors. As R. Sitarchuk emphasized, "... The Orthodox-Adventist relations were marked by tension and mutual opposition. The Russian Orthodox Church considered the Adventist movement as the threat to the current political regime, whose it was an unofficial component the Russian Orthodox Church was, and therefore initiated the struggle against the new religious movement. At the same time, the Russian Orthodox Church took preventive religious and educational measures and appealed to the government to make an administrative influence on its competitors in the religious space" (Sitarchuk, 2009, p. 8).
The most massive wave of the Protestant missionary work was the Mennonites. A leading scholar on the history of the Ukrainian Protestantism, V. Liubashchenko, noted that the Protestant work ethic corresponded to the Ukrainian realities of the end of the industrial revolution. The Mennonites had great achievements in streamlining production and intensifying an agricultural development. Their convincing success ensured the growth of authority among the population, was the best means of spreading the Protestant doctrine. The main activity of the Protestant preachers was missionary work (Liubaschenko, 1996).
The Conclusions. The analysis of the outlined historiographical heritage allows us to conclude that the modern stage of the national history development, which is characterized by modernization of methodology based on anthropological and civilizational approaches, pluralism and polyphony of theories, the opening of the access to the archival sources, recognition of the religious and irrational as the necessary components of a social life, initiated a new historiographical direction -the history of religions and churches in Ukraine. Its important component is the study and understanding of the status, activities and a social significance of the clergy of different denominations. The historians, analyzing the place and role of cultural and educational activities of the Christian priesthood during the second half of the ХІХth -the first third of the ХХth century, pay attention to the clergy's integration into the broad Ukrainian national movement. The thesis that as a result of the national revival the clergy gained their own national and socio-political identification sounds polyphonic. The historians, rejecting the Soviet skeptical and atheistic non-recognition of the church as a factor of a social life, testify that the clergy was one of the creators of the Ukrainian national cultural (religious) revival and played a significant role in the theological ideological and value preparation for the future struggle, first of all, for the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy. The historians emphasize that the level and strength of the influence of the Christian clergy of different denominations was different. The researchers emphasize the exceptional importance of the Greek-Catholic clergy in the formation of the Galician national political and spiritual cultural movements. It can be stated that the characteristics of the relevant historiography is the division of researchers into secular, who focus mainly on rationalist conceptual research priorities and the clergy, who in studying the history of their denominations, do not always avoid denominational commitment and Orthodoxy. At the same time, it can be assumed that the positive effect of this situation lies in the plane of synergetics and interaction, because having greater access to the church archives, the historians from among the clergy consolidate a significant factual material, publishing of which opens new subjects of researches for secular historians.
Funding. The author did not receive any financial support in preparing the materials, writing the text and publishing the article.