The situation of the Greek-Catholic Church in Soviet Ukraine and the change of the Holy See’s eastern policy during the pontificate of John Paul II

The article presents an outline of the eastern policy of the Holy See, most often referred to by the German term Ostpolitik. Against this historical background, the author presents the situation of the Greek Catholic Church in Soviet Ukraine. Regarding the findings on this ground, the most important features of the Soviet policy towards the Church were then presented in the context of the Vatican Ostpolitik, to finally show the figure of John Paul II as significant in the history of Eastern Europe. The issue of the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the baptism of Kievan Rus and the problem of restoring the legality of the Ukrainian Church were also discussed.