Dwa światy: Zagadnienie identyfikacji narodowej Andrzeja Szeptyckiego w latach 1865–1914 [Two worlds: The problem of the national identification of Andrei Sheptyts'kyi in the years 1865–1914]

Quite fortunately, despite the controversy surrounding him among Poles, Andrei Sheptyts'kyi has his positive moment in Polish culture. In the epic Na wysokiej połoninie [On the high uplands, 1936–1979], Stanisław Vincenz marks the pastoral visit of the bishop of Stanyslaviv to the Hutsuls. The visit is presented from the perspective of the Hutsuls, who adorned it in legendary attire; for instance, the bishop arrives in their region on a white horse, since nothing else would be becoming for a dignitary of such stature. Sheptyts'kyi was only bishop of Stanyslaviv for approximately a year before moving on to the more prestigious position as head of Ukrainian Greek Catholic metropolitan bishopric of Lviv, but his visit to Hutsul country was registered in a lengthy pastoral letter that was published in due course. The letter gives a far more prosaic picture of the Hutsuls than the one which Vincenz provides in his mainly...