The ‘Memoirs’ of Metropolitan Josyf Slipyi are an important document for the denominational history of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and also a valuable source for anyone interested in the history of religion in the USSR and in Ukraine, and in Orthodox-Catholic and Church-State relations. The author calls himself ‘the silent witness of the silent Church’ (p. 427). In this one feels the inexplicable tragedy, both personal and institutional, of the Metropolitan and of his Church. When the crimes of the Soviet regime against the Church demanded to be proclaimed to the whole world, only silence was possible; prayer was the only recourse. The persecuted Church could not tell the world what was happening; its voice could not penetrate the ‘Iron Curtain’. However, it survived – in the catacombs and prisons, in the hearts of the common believers and in the confession of its martyrs.

Josyf Slipyi recorded his memoirs almost immediately after arriving in Rome after his release from prison but kept them private. His cautious silence about the persecution of Christians in the USSR was one of the conditions of his release. It was also a way for him to demonstrate his pastoral care for those whom his revelations could hurt. Only today can we hear his voice – not as a candid narrative but as a document of its times, full of silences and gaps. And these gaps tell more than the words on the page. It is necessary to read between the lines. Metropolitan Slipyi had to write his memoirs – his Church and the whole free world clamoured for them. And the way in which he wrote speaks of the difficult situation than he and his Church were in. Slipyi had long before realised that the Soviet government had come to stay and would have to be negotiated with. He therefore asked the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) to halt the armed struggle with the Red Army, ‘which had defeated Hitler himself, and so, in the course of time, would overcome the UPA too’ (p. 479). That was why he stressed his civic allegiance to the Soviet state. It was for this reason that he did not write anything that could permanently destroy his relationship with the authorities and thus deprive the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) of the chance to be recognised in the USSR and its imprisoned priests to be released.

Obviously, the main concerns described by the Metropolitan in this period were connected with the consequences of the Pseudo-Synod of 1946 when the UGCC was in fact dissolved. But he does not say much about it; he simply criticises Kostelnyk and Orthodoxy. He writes a lot about the difficulties of everyday life, but in quite a monotonous way; likewise in describing people. He saw an informer or a villain, the mean or the weak in almost in everyone. It is noteworthy that there are almost no biblical quotations in the text. In general, the memoir, as a text, seems somewhat artificial, disjointed and inadequately processed. It seems that Norman Cousens was right when he wrote that, even when in Rome, it was difficult for Josyf Slipyj to realise that he was really free (p. 559). He wrote as if he were still in the USSR where one had to pay with one's own blood and where the Church would suffer for every free word.

It is known that, when he was negotiating Slipyi's release, Khrushchev most feared newspaper articles along the lines of ‘The bishop tells about the Bolshevik tortures’ (pp. 537, 554), and the Metropolitan was of the same mind. His fear was religious-political. He feared not terrorist attacks or new arrests, nor the anti-religious campaign in the USSR being ramped up, but rather he feared losing the unique chance of the period for the UGCC to be legalised under the pressure of anti-Stalin exposures and the current international situation. He shared the hopes of many that the ‘triumvirate’ (the USA, the USSR and the Vatican) would be successful in the struggle for peace.

Apart from the memoirs, other material is included in this volume. Here we see another Josyf Slipyi: a diplomat, a historian, a polemicist and a pastor. In the documents on negotiations with the Soviet authorities, he speaks the language of compromise offering his assistance in establishing relations between the USSR, the USA and the Vatican (p. 401) and asserting that the UGCC was quite compatible with Communism (p. 397). In memoranda addressed to Rome there is no politics, there is nothing personal; there is nothing except care for the Church and the faithful, heroes of the faith and good priests (pp. 486–7). On the whole, this collection of texts helps to uncover the image of Josyf Slipyj as the patriarch of a Church in the shadows. The author describes his eighteen years of humiliation as just a background against which he speaks about his Church. His personal history is completely subordinated to the main theme: the history of the UGCC. However, when reading some extracts, it seems that the Metropolitan was so focused and concerned about his own Church that he was unable to see other denominations as part of the one Church. Describing the ‘camp of believers’ (p. 220) that brought together Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants and various ‘sectarians’, he shows no interest in the possibilities of ‘camp ecumenism’; he speaks exceptionally harshly of the Orthodox and he turns down every offer of fellowship and joint ministry from believers of other denominations. In this way, because of fear of informers and agents provocateurs, believers would often deprive themselves of Christian fellowship and brotherly support. These texts convey the atmosphere of state terror against believers, general suspicion, fatalism and self-censorship.

The achievemens of the editors in preparing this volume must be acknowledged. Ivan Dats'ko undertook a huge task, collecting together and organising the texts. For him, who formerly served as a private secretary to the Metropolitan, the book was not only a professional challenge but also a spiritual duty. Maryia Horyacha's contribution was equally important. She checked, commented on the texts and edited them. The book leaves a strong impression: the editors were devoted not so much to the Metropolitan, as to the Church for which he had suffered; the published work is therefore not so much a monument of history, as it is a gift, a lesson and a covenant for present and future generations of the universal Church of Christ.