The eighteenth century was the heyday of the Uniate Church. After a turbulent beginning, the Church strengthened and continued to grow until the partitions of Poland.
The Sheptytsky dynasty was prominent in both the Lviv Eparchy and the Kyiv-Halych Metropolia for much of the century. The Sheptytskys belonged to a Ruthenian boyar family from the Peremyshl land. Among them were Bishops Varlaam, Atanasii, and Lev Sheptytsky.
Varlaam Sheptytsky
Varlaam Sheptytsky was born in 1647 near Sambir, in Galicia. Almost fifty years of his life were connected with the Univ Holy Dormition Lavra, which at the time was the most important center of monasticism in the Lviv Eparchy.
Varlaam entered the monastery, then still Orthodox, and in 1668 was elected archimandrite. The following year, he established the Univ Monastery Press, which published important monographs and religious texts.
Together with Bishop Yosyf Shumliansky of Lviv, Varlaam began working to extend the Union of Brest to the Lviv Eparchy. He converted to Catholicism in March 1681. In 1694, he defended the Uniate position at an eparchial sobor, and in July 1700, he took part in the proclamation of the Union in the Lviv Eparchy.
After Bishop Shumliansky died in 1708, King August II Frederick nominated Varlaam as Bishop of Lviv. Varlaam was elected bishop and consecrated in 1710.
One of Varlaam’s most important initiatives was the Univ Monastery Council, held in 1711 to unite the monastics of the Lviv Eparchy.
Varlaam was also active in the political and social life of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He supported cultural and religious initiatives and defended the rights of the Uniates in relation to Roman Catholics.
Atanasii Sheptytsky
Atanasii Sheptytsky was born in 1686 near Sambir, in Galicia. Around 1703, he joined the Basilian monastery in Univ, where his uncle Varlaam was archimandrite. He was ordained in 1710 and became archimandrite of the Univ Monastery in 1713. He was appointed coadjutor to his uncle and succeeded him as Bishop of Lviv, Halych, and Kamianets-Podilskyi in 1715.
Atanasii paid close attention to the education of his clergy. At his own expense, he supported four candidates for the priesthood at the Papal College of Theatines in Lviv. As bishop and later as metropolitan, he also opposed efforts by the Polish clergy to convert Uniates to Roman Catholicism and to polonize them.
In 1720, Atanasii took an active part in the Synod of Zamostia. In 1729, at the age of 43, he became Kyiv Uniate metropolitan.
In 1739, Atanasii oversaw the reform of the Basilian monastic order.
In 1744, Atanasii initiated the construction of a new Cathedral of Saint George in Lviv.
Atanasii was deeply devoted to the Virgin Mary. In 1730, he crowned the miraculous Zhyrovychi Icon of the Mother of God. As metropolitan, he also carefully administered his eparchies, watched over the discipline of his clergy, and gave particular attention to their theological education.
Lev Sheptytsky
Lev Sheptytsky was born in 1717 and was a nephew of Metropolitan Atanasii Sheptytsky. He studied at the Papal College of Theatines in Lviv and later earned doctorates in civil and canon law from the Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome and graduated from the diplomatic academy there.
After returning from Rome, he joined the Basilian Order. In 1743, he was elected archimandrite of Saint Nicholas Monastery in Volhynia.
In 1749, Lev succeeded his late uncle Atanasii as Bishop of Lviv, Halych, and Kamianets-Podilskyi. Over the next thirty years, as bishop and metropolitan, he established cathedral chapters in those three cities and oversaw the completion of the new Saint George’s Cathedral and the episcopal residence in Lviv. He also ordered the compilation of a full register of parishes, buildings, and land.
Lev continued the reform of the secular clergy, emphasizing discipline, theological formation, and greater uniformity in liturgical and sacramental practices.
In 1762, Lev was named coadjutor to Fylyp Volodkovych, Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Rus’. From then on, Lev supervised the day-to-day affairs of the Kyiv Metropolia.
The partition of Poland in 1772 placed Uniate faithful under both Russian and Austrian rule. Lev used his influence at the papal court and at the court in Vienna to defend his faithful and opposed attempts to convert them to Roman Catholicism.
Lev Sheptytsky convinced Empress Maria Theresa to establish the Barbareum, a Greek Catholic seminary in Vienna. He also laid the groundwork for a Greek Catholic theological seminary in Lviv.
In 1778, Lev became Metropolitan of Kyiv. He died fifteen months later.
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