Viktor Danilov
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Viktor Danilov (20 July 1927 – 7 December 2016) was a parish priest of the Greek Catholic parish in Grodno, dean of the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church, chaplain, writer in Soviet times and religious dissident. He was also a historian,[1] teacher and researcher.[2]
Biography
Early life and studies
Born in
During his captivity he met other prisoners with many different religious beliefs and he started to rethink his position; after considering Judaism and Islam, he abandoned Marxism and atheism and became a Christian, later deciding to join the
In December 1955 he returned to his studies in the History Department of the Yaroslavl Pedagogical Institute. However, his first diploma was not issued on the grounds that he was an active Catholic, as the administration of the Institute was wary of possible denunciation. He made official requests to government agencies and under the "thaw", he eventually received his diploma. In 1960, he moved to Vilnius in 1963, graduated from Moscow Institute of Finance and Economic College, qualifying as a "Financial Economist". In 1967 he moved to Grodno, where he engaged in underground missionary activity. Searched twice, he was summoned for questioning.
Ordination
In the early 1970s, he was asked to consider joining the priesthood; as he was a married man, he studied the priesthood of the Byzantine rite. and began a priestly ministry underground.
After
Academic work
Danilov was also the author of a number of books and brochures on religious topics, including My Path to God and the Catholic Church.[4] Danilov and Teodor Shanin started a study on The Peasant Revolution in Russia in 1994; the study lasted for six years.[2] They also started the scientific journal Russian Peasant Studies in 1996.
Personal life
Danilov was married with a number of children and grandchildren.[3] He died in Yaroslavl on 7 December 2016, aged 89.
Reading
- ISBN 985-6374-04-9.
- ISBN 978-5-94755-276-8
- Viktor Danilov, My way to God and to the Catholic Church. Grodno, (1997, 2003)
References
- ^ Baltic Worlds website, Vol II:III-IV, 2009 (page 59)
- ^ a b Theodor Shanin website
- ^ a b c d Unavoce website, profile page
- ^ a b c Krotov website, online copy of My Path to God and the Catholic Church (autobiography of Viktor Danilov)
- ^ The Byzantine Forum website, Handbook of the Byzantine-Catholic Communities in the Russian Federation, June 2010
- ^ ChurchBY website, In Memory of Protopresbyter Jan Matusiewicz, article dated Sept 3, 2008
