In Pursuit of Healing and Memories: Cross-Border Ukrainian Pilgrimage to a Polish Shrine

Authors

Iuliia Buyskykh

DOI

10.32436/2475-6423.1049

Abstract

I present an analysis of Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic and Orthodox pilgrimages to Kalwaria Pacławska in south-east Poland near the Polish-Ukrainian border. Before World War II, there were two pilgrimage sites in Kalwaria Pacławska, one Roman Catholic and the other Greek Catholic. Today, Ukrainian pilgrimage is quite a diverse phenomenon, consisting of people of both Ukrainian and Polish origin, and the three Christian denominations. The approach to pilgrimage as a palimpsest can broaden the research perspective of mobile religiosities and reconsider the interactions between religious motivations, sacred sites, memories, experiences, and storytelling through space and time. In my research case, the territories of two neighboring villages inhabited now by Roman Catholic Poles have not been shared ethnic and religious spaces since 1947. Therefore, the Franciscan monastery with the pilgrimage site cannot be considered a “classic” shared sacred space where differences are negotiated. At the same time, the site itself serves as an example of multiple representations of the pilgrimages featured in this location. Despite the Roman Catholic homogeneity of Kalwaria Pacławska, a small group of Greek Catholics and Orthodox pilgrims, who perceive themselves as “guests,” find their own religious aspirations there, enriching the site with their own meanings. Consequently, the idea of “guesthood” is a promising contribution in the general discussion about the way multiple pilgrimages share one site.

Recommended Citation

Buyskykh, Iuliia (2019) "In Pursuit of Healing and Memories: Cross-Border Ukrainian Pilgrimage to a Polish Shrine," Journal of Global Catholicism: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 4.
DOI: 10.32436/2475-6423.1049
Available at: https://crossworks.holycross.edu/jgc/vol3/iss1/4