Why the Ukrainian Church Couldn’t Provide Direct Assistance After the War

After the Great Patriotic War, the patriotic activities of the Church shifted focus somewhat, but overall, they continued to be directed towards providing material assistance to the state, just as during the war. The war-torn country, and specifically Ukraine, needed resources and manpower for recovery. The population itself was on the brink of poverty, yet calls for donations from church pulpits were made with even more zeal than before. The only difference now was that, unlike in wartime, the government did not want to publicly acknowledge the church’s role in assisting the country.

In the first post-war year, the Church continued its efforts to gather parish funds to aid the national economy. Thanks to the patriotic calls of priests, substantial sums of money were raised. The representative of the Council for Russian Orthodox Church Affairs in the Volyn region reports that during the first half of 1946, a total of 392,000 rubles were collected for the war invalids and orphans, with 232,000 rubles going to veterans and 100,000 rubles to orphans.

However, not all forms of assistance from church representatives were welcomed by government officials. A case is reported where Bishop Varlaam sent a church employee to a daycare in Lutsk after a complaint appeared in the local newspaper about a lack of beds and furniture. The employee reported the problem, and Varlaam subsequently gave 5,000 rubles to the daycare. The regional authority criticized this direct form of charity, as it bypassed official channels, which was against state policy.

The post-war period marked a time when the Church, despite its substantial contributions, faced stringent limits on its role in society. While the government accepted and even appreciated the Church’s contributions, it did not allow religious institutions to gain public recognition or authority through these charitable acts. This careful balancing act between state and church continued as authorities remained wary of the Church gaining too much influence. Despite the Soviet government's acknowledgment of the Church’s help during wartime, the post-war years were marked by restrictions, as the state's commitment to atheism and secularism remained unwavering.