The practice of using history by the Roman Catholic Church as an instrument of influence on society has led to the creation of a system of narrative historical sources. Among these sources are the parish chronicles. The appearance of parish chronicles in the Vilna Archdiocese was facilitated by the personal interest of Archbishop R. Yalbzhikovsky in preserving the historical and cultural heritage of the church. During the pastoral visitation of 1926–1930. he demanded that the clergy be engaged in fixing local history. To facilitate the task, a specially designed form containing 101 questions was proposed. At the same time, this form did not regulate the name of created text. Its content depended solely on regional characteristics. The parish priests or vicars became authors of chronicles. This was indicated on the title page of document. With rare exceptions, it is necessary to attribute authorship using additional text analysis procedures. The authors of chronicles, based on documents from parish, diocesan and university archives, historiographic works, memoirs of local residents, as well as their own observations, created a unique narrative. This narrative reflected the history of a particular Roman Catholic parish from the date of the consecration of the church to the time contemporary to chronicler. When using the facts of church sources and historiographic works, they were perceived as having the criterion of truth. Memories and testimonies of local residents required a special oath of the cross. It didn't always work properly. The chronicle included information about supernatural events, distorted ideas of parishioners about the reality around them. All this allowed the parish priests in 1926–1945. create unique sources on regional history. These sources require further detailed study.

Keywords: Roman Catholic Church, Archdiocese of Vilna, Roman Catholic parish, confessional annals, Romuald Jałbrzykowski, historical narrative, verification of historical sources

DOI: 10.22250/20728662_2022_3_17

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About the author

Kiryl W. Sytsko – PhD (History), Senior Research Fellow, Sector of Manuscripts, Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Yakub Kolas Central Scientific Library National Academy of Sciences of Belarus; 15 Surganova str., Minsk, 220072, Republic of Belarus; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.