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On February 22, 1903, the Tsar decreed religious freedom, allowing the Greek Catholic Church to function. This Church prospered under the charismatic leadership of Metropolitan [[Andrey Sheptytsky]], who was the archbishop of Lviv from 1900 to 1944. In 1907, Pope [[Pius X]] orally and secretly gave him full powers to organize the Byzantine Rite Church in the Russian Empire.<ref>Bishop Michel D'Herbigny SJ and Russia: A Pre-ecumenical Approach to Christian Unity, p. 56. Author: Léon Tretjakewitsch. Editor: Augustinus-Verlag, 1990. ISBN 3761301626, 9783761301623</ref> Sheptytsky was internally exiled in Russia between 1914 and 1917, and upon his return to Lviv, using the powers granted by Pius X, on May 29, 1917, he created the "Apostolic Exarchate for Byzantine Rite Ukrainian Faithful in Russia and Siberia," appointing Abbot [[Klymentiy Sheptytsky]] as Exarch, confirmed by Pope [[Benedict XV]] on February 24, 1921. On May 28, 1917, he appointed the first Apostolic Exarch for the Greek Catholics of Russia (''Exarchia apostolica pro catholicis ritus byzantini in Russia''), [[Leonid Feodorov]], who was confirmed by Benedict XV on March 1, 1921.<ref>Rome-Moscou: l'ostpolitik du Vatican, p. 29. Author: Mireille Maqua. Editor: Cabay, 1984. ISBN 2870772319, 9782870772317</ref>

On February 22, 1903, the Tsar decreed religious freedom, allowing the Greek Catholic Church to function. This Church prospered under the charismatic leadership of Metropolitan [[Andrey Sheptytsky]], who was the archbishop of Lviv from 1900 to 1944. In 1907, Pope [[Pius X]] orally and secretly gave him full powers to organize the Byzantine Rite Church in the Russian Empire.<ref>Bishop Michel D'Herbigny SJ and Russia: A Pre-ecumenical Approach to Christian Unity, p. 56. Author: Léon Tretjakewitsch. Editor: Augustinus-Verlag, 1990. ISBN 3761301626, 9783761301623</ref> Sheptytsky was internally exiled in Russia between 1914 and 1917, and upon his return to Lviv, using the powers granted by Pius X, on May 29, 1917, he created the "Apostolic Exarchate for Byzantine Rite Ukrainian Faithful in Russia and Siberia," appointing Abbot [[Klymentiy Sheptytsky]] as Exarch, confirmed by Pope [[Benedict XV]] on February 24, 1921. On May 28, 1917, he appointed the first Apostolic Exarch for the Greek Catholics of Russia (''Exarchia apostolica pro catholicis ritus byzantini in Russia''), [[Leonid Feodorov]], who was confirmed by Benedict XV on March 1, 1921.<ref>Rome-Moscou: l'ostpolitik du Vatican, p. 29. Author: Mireille Maqua. Editor: Cabay, 1984. ISBN 2870772319, 9782870772317</ref>

After World War I, the Ukrainian Greek Catholics found themselves under the governments of Poland, [[Hungary]], [[Romania]], and [[Czechoslovakia]]. As they extended their policies of Polonization to their eastern territories, the Polish authorities sought to weaken the Greek Catholic Church.<ref name="Magosci">{{cite book| author=Magosci, P. | title=Morality and Reality: the Life and Times of Andrei Sheptytsky| location= Edmonton, Alberta | publisher= Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta | year = 1989 }}</ref> On September 17, 1939, Sheptytsky used his exceptional powers again to create 3 exarchates: the ''Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Volhynia, Polesia, and Podlachia'' (Exarch [[Mykola Charnetskyi]]); the ''Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Greater Ukraine'' (Exarch Josyf Slipyj); and the ''Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Belarus'' (''Locum Tenens'' Mykola Charnetskyj, and from September 17, 1940, Exarch Antoniy Nemantsevich). Pope [[Pius XII]] accepted these exarchates on November 22, 1941.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apostolische-nachfolge.de/Ukraine%20(English).htm|title=Apostolische Nachfolge. Ukraine|accessdate=March 28, 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914213026/http://www.apostolische-nachfolge.de/Ukraine%20(English).htm|archivedate=September 14, 2017}}</ref>

The Ukrainian Greek Catholics found themselves under the different states such as [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungary]], Poland and [[Romania]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mogchurch.com/about-us/brief-history-of-ukrainian-church/|title=Brief History of Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church|publisher=Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church}}</ref> As they extended their policies of Polonization to their eastern territories, the Polish authorities sought to weaken the Greek Catholic Church.<ref name="Magosci">{{cite book| author=Magosci, P. | title=Morality and Reality: the Life and Times of Andrei Sheptytsky| location= Edmonton, Alberta | publisher= Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta | year = 1989 }}</ref> On September 17, 1939, Sheptytsky used his exceptional powers again to create 3 exarchates: the ''Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Volhynia, Polesia, and Podlachia'' (Exarch [[Mykola Charnetskyi]]); the ''Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Greater Ukraine'' (Exarch Josyf Slipyj); and the ''Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Belarus'' (''Locum Tenens'' Mykola Charnetskyj, and from September 17, 1940, Exarch Antoniy Nemantsevich). Pope [[Pius XII]] accepted these exarchates on November 22, 1941.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apostolische-nachfolge.de/Ukraine%20(English).htm|title=Apostolische Nachfolge. Ukraine|accessdate=March 28, 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914213026/http://www.apostolische-nachfolge.de/Ukraine%20(English).htm|archivedate=September 14, 2017}}</ref>

When World War II began, most of [[Galicia]] was [[Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939|occupied by the Soviet Union in 1939]], and at the end of the war, the Ukrainian Greek Catholics found themselves under the control of the communist regimes of Poland and the Soviet Union. The new communist administration acted decisively to eliminate the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine: in April 1945, the Soviet authorities arrested, deported, and sentenced Metropolitan [[Josyf Slipyj]] (who had become Sheptytsky's coadjutor after his death on November 1, 1944) on April 11, 1945, along with eight other Greek Catholic bishops (Nykyta Budka, Grigorij Chomyshyn, Iván Lyatyshevskyi, Mykola Carneckyj, Peter Werhun, Josaphat Josyf Kocylovskyj, Hryhoriy Lakota, Teodor Yuriy Romzha),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apostolische-nachfolge.de/Ukraine%20(English).htm|title=Apostolische Nachfolge|accessdate=March 28, 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914213026/http://www.apostolische-nachfolge.de/Ukraine%20(English).htm|archivedate=September 14, 2017}}</ref> as well as hundreds of clergy and lay activist leaders. In Lviv alone, 800 priests were arrested. With only a few clergy members invited to attend, a synod was convened in Lviv on March 8 and 9, 1946, to revoke the Union of Brest. Officially, all the Church's properties were transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate.<ref name="RFEAug72009">[http://www.rferl.org/content/SovietEra_Documents_Shed_Light_On_Suppression_Of_Ukrainian_Catholic_Church/1795023.html Soviet-Era Documents Shed Light On Suppression Of Ukrainian Catholic Church], ''[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]'', August 7, 2009</ref> All the bishops and a significant number of clergy died in prisons, concentration camps, internal exile, or shortly after their release. The exception was Metropolitan Slipyj, the head of the Church, who was released in 1963 through the intervention of Pope [[John XXIII]], and sent into exile in Rome. In that same year (December 23, 1963), Pope [[Paul VI]] gave him the title of ''Major Archiepiscopal of the Ukrainians of Lviv'', with authority similar to an Eastern Patriarch. In 1965, he was made [[cardinal]], though he had been named ''in pectore'' in 1949, and died in 1984. Emigration to the United States and Canada, which had begun in the 1870s, increased after World War II.

When World War II began, most of [[Galicia]] was [[Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939|occupied by the Soviet Union in 1939]], and at the end of the war, the Ukrainian Greek Catholics found themselves under the control of the communist regimes of Poland and the Soviet Union. The new communist administration acted decisively to eliminate the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine: in April 1945, the Soviet authorities arrested, deported, and sentenced Metropolitan [[Josyf Slipyj]] (who had become Sheptytsky's coadjutor after his death on November 1, 1944) on April 11, 1945, along with eight other Greek Catholic bishops (Nykyta Budka, Grigorij Chomyshyn, Iván Lyatyshevskyi, Mykola Carneckyj, Peter Werhun, Josaphat Josyf Kocylovskyj, Hryhoriy Lakota, Teodor Yuriy Romzha),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apostolische-nachfolge.de/Ukraine%20(English).htm|title=Apostolische Nachfolge|accessdate=March 28, 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914213026/http://www.apostolische-nachfolge.de/Ukraine%20(English).htm|archivedate=September 14, 2017}}</ref> as well as hundreds of clergy and lay activist leaders. In Lviv alone, 800 priests were arrested. With only a few clergy members invited to attend, a synod was convened in Lviv on March 8 and 9, 1946, to revoke the Union of Brest. Officially, all the Church's properties were transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate.<ref name="RFEAug72009">[http://www.rferl.org/content/SovietEra_Documents_Shed_Light_On_Suppression_Of_Ukrainian_Catholic_Church/1795023.html Soviet-Era Documents Shed Light On Suppression Of Ukrainian Catholic Church], ''[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]'', August 7, 2009</ref> All the bishops and a significant number of clergy died in prisons, concentration camps, internal exile, or shortly after their release. The exception was Metropolitan Slipyj, the head of the Church, who was released in 1963 through the intervention of Pope [[John XXIII]], and sent into exile in Rome. In that same year (December 23, 1963), Pope [[Paul VI]] gave him the title of ''Major Archiepiscopal of the Ukrainians of Lviv'', with authority similar to an Eastern Patriarch. In 1965, he was made [[cardinal]], though he had been named ''in pectore'' in 1949, and died in 1984. Emigration to the United States and Canada, which had begun in the 1870s, increased after World War II.