Abstract

The article deals with the financial situation of the Greek Catholic clergy of the Eparchy of Peremysl during the period of theSecondPolish-LithuanianCommonwealth on the basis of archival documents. The author analyzes the status and living standards of the Greek Catholic clergy. The paper studies the number of plots of land, which religious communities use. The authors of the study argue that the main source of the majority of priests’ income were allotments. The authors carried out a comparative analysis with the financial situation of the clergy during the Austro-Hungarian Empire through describing the sources of material income in the study period. The priests had several sources of material funding. During the stay ofGaliciaunder the rule ofAustria-Hungarybefore the First World War, the Austrian authorities paid clergy financial compensation in the form of monthly subsidies. The amount of the payment of subsidies for each parish was different and depended on the quantity and quality of land plots, which transferred to the use of the family priest. The heavier were the conditions of agriculture, the higher was the amount of subsidy from the state for a priest. It testifies to the fact that the Austrian authorities cooperated in filling no gainful parishes with priests, thus equalizing the material incomes of the clergy. The financial situation of the Greek-Catholic clergy has changed greatly after the occupation ofGaliciabyPolandin 1919. Incomes from allotments didn’t cover obligatory payments, which were carried out of a church. The material support of the clergy was differentiated. Available incomes cannot often to cover the obligatory requirements. The article gives specific facts about their financial support. At the same time the material support of the clergy was much better than the material support of the local Ukrainian population.