Ukrainian Clergy Are at the Turning Point: Vasyl Slovachevskyi and Fedir Iavorskyi (Late 19th – First Third of the 20th Centuries)

The article presents a comparative study of the biographies of two priests from the Kyiv region: Vasyl Slovachevskyi and Fedir Iavorskyi, one urban and one rural priest. They were born in 1880 and 1878, respectively, and both died in 1938 during the Great Terror. Using a microhistorical approach, the authors provide a critical comparative analysis based on documentary evidence from archival and published sources, tracing the life trajectories of Vasyl Slovachevskyi and Fedir Iavorskyi. The study draws from references and periodical diocesan publications, as well as published materials from the archives of Soviet special services and Alla Slovachevska’s family archive. It explores commonalities and distinctions in their social circles, positions, and the impacts of socio-political transformations. Both priests came from ecclesiastical families in right-bank Ukraine and received secondary spiritual education, graduating from theological schools and seminaries, a common path for clergy’s sons at the time. Despite their spiritual education, which served as a means of Russification, both priests remained connected to their ethnic roots. Evidence includes Fedir Iavorskyi’s recording of Ukrainian song lyrics and Vasyl Slovachevskyi’s responses about his nationality and native language during his arrest. With the onset of Soviet rule, their established lives underwent significant change. Vasyl Slovachevskyi resisted the new government and opposed the «renovationist» changes in church life, remaining loyal to traditional church practices. Both priests were arrested by Soviet authorities, sent to camps in Russia, and extrajudicially executed. Their life trajectories, reflective of their social milieu, are considered representative of the lower Ukrainian clergy of their time.