Delivered by Rector Fr. Borys Gudziak, June 26, 2002

“Love study, work hard to enrich your knowledge, be the servants of wisdom. Erect temples of knowledge, and kindle the fire of the spiritual power of the Church and the People. Remember that a full life for the Church and the nation is impossible without its own native learning. Learning is the breath of life!”
(from the Testament of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj)

As suits the occasion, I would like to give an inauguration speech, in which I will briefly outline for you the vision and mission of the newly created Ukrainian Catholic University. I would like to point out immediately that this is not going to be my personal text in a narrow sense, since the thoughts expressed in it belong to the whole academic community. These thoughts were born in the plans and intentions of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, the founders of the Theological Academy and the Ukrainian Catholic University in Rome. They have been developing over the last 10 years as we have been working together on the renewal of the LTA. These thoughts were also formulated in a particularly special way during our discussions at the two-day meeting of all faculty and staff of the LTA at Assumption Monastery in Univ. On these inauguration days, they will not only be voiced verbally in this hall. These thoughts will be epitomized in artistic images, expressed through music, and embodied in the solemn atmosphere of the inaugural celebrations.

The historical and cultural development of the Ukrainian people throughout the last millennium has been closely connected with Christianity. Ukraine is traditionally considered to be a meeting point and a place for dialogue between various Christian traditions. Vivid examples of this are educational centers such as the Ostroh and Kyiv-Mohyla Academies, in which a prolific interaction between cultures stimulated the renewal and reformation of Ukrainian social life. Especially after Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ukraine in 2001, the anniversary of which we are now celebrating, the whole world has rediscovered Ukraine as the cradle of Christianity in central-eastern Europe.

The previous century was far from favorable for Christians in Ukraine. Millions of Ukrainians underwent the severe ordeals of persecution, war, martyrdom for the faith, pain and suffering. Misery and torture gave birth to the pure prayer of the new martyrs of the Ukrainian nation. This prayer works wonders and inspires the faithful to incredible feats, even though the world they live in seems spiritually devastated and collapsed. Everyone who in his own way contributed to today’s event must have felt the power of these prayers, which united the efforts of so many people from all around the world. This power gives us the blessing of God and the courage to gradually build our modest “house of wisdom.”

The foundation of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Ukraine crowns the hundred-year efforts of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the endeavors of Ukrainian scholars to establish a higher educational institution that would be based on Christian spirituality, culture and outlook, and become an educational and academic center of general importance, as well as a place for ecumenical dialogue and understanding in Ukraine. The UCU is the academic successor of the Greek Catholic Theological Academy, established in 1928-1929 in Lviv by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and headed by then-Fr. Josyf Slipyj, who was the first rector. After the academy was closed down in 1944, the Ukrainian Catholic University of Pope St. Clement I in Rome, founded in 1963 and headed by Metropolitan Josyf Slipyj, began its mission and functions. In 1994, the activity of the above-mentioned academy was renewed by the Lviv Theological Academy (LTA), which in 1998 received international accreditation.

Some Brush Strokes for a Portrait of the UCU

As we cross the threshold of the third millennium, we are beginning to realize that one of the most valuable treasures that we have among us is the younger generation of Ukraine. They have lived practically all their lives in a society in which totalitarian and anti-personal ideology is gradually dying out. Breathing in the winds of freedom with full lungs, they hunger to make their own path for the future. In opposition to the seeds of the culture of death that the modern world has sown so densely, they are called to become builders of the civilization of love. I have no doubt that the level, the depth, and the richness of the education that the younger generation receives, together with the spiritual formation that Ukrainian universities will offer their students, will play a decisive role in laying the foundations for a new society.

What new can the Ukrainian Catholic University say about this situation, and what will it contribute to the treasury of Ukrainian higher education? It is not possible now to present in detail the program of UCU’s activity and the major strategic principles of its development. I cannot, however, omit some key points that, in my opinion, form the essence and create the atmosphere of our university.

UCU’s Mission of Evangelization

It is symbolic that the UCU is coming into existence when the memories of His Holiness John Paul II’s historic visit to Ukraine are still fresh in our minds. Exactly one year ago, he consecrated the university’s cornerstone. A true intellectual, the Pope by this step once again witnessed how important education is, in the life of the Christian and in the realization of the Church’s mission.

Through its eight years of existence, the revived Lviv Theological Academy has clearly announced its particular mission. This may be described as the constant and conscious desire to show that faith and reason can be united, creatively and harmoniously. In the same way, by its existence and activity the Ukrainian Catholic University is called to demonstrate even more clearly that there need be no conflict between serving God and loving wisdom.

No less symbolic is the fact that the UCU was founded during the Third Session of the Patriarchal Sobor [Assembly] of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, entitled “Jesus Christ – Source of Renewal for the Ukrainian Church.” This Sobor is a churchwide forum aimed at identifying the most effective forms of church ministry in the evangelical spirit for the Ukrainian nation. The UCU sees its mission as a meeting point and a place for dialogue between the Ukrainian Church and society. It should be able to give profound and competent answers to the numerous social problems that the contemporary individual encounters today.

Enriching Academic Discourse

As the fullness and richness of every individual’s inner world is measured by the depth of his interpersonal dialogue, so is the life of every university defined by the degree of its openness to communication with other universities. The UCU hopes to establish close cooperation with other higher educational institutions in Lviv and throughout Ukraine, as well as in neighboring and far-away countries.
We proceed from the assumption that all Ukrainian universities have a common task and goal: to produce highly educated and spiritual people and to enrich the intellectual, creative and cultural potential of Ukrainian society. Striving for this single aim, we undoubtedly want to find our own special way, which would develop and add to the accomplishments of university education in Ukraine.

One of the fundamental tasks of the UCU is to enrich the academic discourse with new prospects and continuously raise the level of discussion, the competence, and the openness of its participants. Reality is multi-faceted, as are the various approaches of the learning individual. If we take the history of mankind as an example, it would be oversimplifying to view it only as a sequence of historical events, economic changes and military cataclysms. Human history reflects the richness of human life. It is also the history of religious and artistic yearnings, the history of ideas, and the history of culture. The UCU will find its own niche in exploring the human world and its culture, thus contributing to a multi-dimensional image of existence, which is the human being.

Interdisciplinary and Ethical Prospects for Research

In recent years, such questions as “What is the purpose of human life?”; “Can a human being communicate with God?”; “What is the essence of such a communication?”; “What changes does it bring about in human life?” were excluded from Ukrainian study and education. Not only did this obstruction marginalize the theological search, pushing it to the extremes of obscurantism and fundamentalism, but it also caused serious harm to knowledge and education. In addition, this obstruction deprived knowledge and education of a partner in the conversation, since in an open dialogue, knowledge and education might have taken on a specifically ethical paradigm, becoming in some axiological sense true humanistic disciplines. Whether people like it or not, “intellect without virtue is often destructive and dangerous.” (Cardinal Paul Poupard)

One of the challenges the UCU faces today is the need for a creative revival of the interdisciplinary character of higher education. A desire to reconsider and perceive more profoundly the meaning of human existence, the essence and calling of the human being arises from the need for interdisciplinary studies. Thus, a real scholar is not only motivated by the desire to understand the logic of the phenomenon under study, but also realizes that by conducting research he serves other people and contributes to other fields of study. A good example in this context is bioethics, which attempts to consider a wide range of medical categories, processes and facts from the standpoint of morality and analyzes to what extent biological studies and medical practices are moral and ethical. Through this analysis, bioethics sets certain limits, crossing which the scholar repudiates the principle of service and abuses human dignity.

Knowledge of Truth and University Education

“Know the truth and the truth will set you free.” The main task of the UCU is to testify constantly to the inseparable connection between respecting human freedom and serving the truth. Scholarly research, stripped of the dominance of pragmatic reasoning and ideological manipulation, can only remain so if its ultimate goal is to learn the truth and to serve the human being, respecting the sanctity of life and human dignity.

The UCU’s activity should meet the challenge of the post-modern era and answer Pilate’s question “What is truth?” The UCU would like to rephrase this question, zeroing in on a personalized answer, which is deeply rooted in our intuition – the truth in the most important things is not “something,” it is “Somebody.” The UCU wants to become an environment in which people will search for truth and deeply know it. In defiance of the rationalistic outlook, our Eastern Christian identity invites us to an antinomical understanding of truth, a perception of its dimension of mystery and its discovery through interpersonal communication.
A return to the ideals of university education and the development of a program of interdisciplinary studies presupposes that we should nurture the students’ inner need for receiving a well-rounded education. We don’t only want to contribute significantly to the young person’s professional training, which would secure his competitiveness in the world’s labor market. We also want to educate a free and creative individual, a citizen of his country, a patriot of his native land, and a leader of his nation.

Academic work and studies in the UCU not only provide grounds for and stimulate the development of intellectual life within the academic community. They also give an opportunity for the spiritual evolution and transfiguration of everyone who opens his heart to Christian values and spirituality. Step by step, the UCU should create an atmosphere which would become a source for the discovery of the most crucial and fundamental experiences in every person’s life: faith and faithfulness, love and mercy, forgiveness and sacrifice. We want to create this atmosphere not only because we are faithful to the ideals of university education, but also because our Catholic identity tells us to do so.

The School of Service

One of the main tasks of the UCU is to spread the Christian ethic of work and study. This means not only a struggle with all forms of abuse in education and instruction. First of all, it means filling the instruction and future work of our students with the spirit of service and solidarity. We hope that our staff and students constantly have the opportunity to experience service of God and neighbor. Consequently, the educational and research activities of the UCU will always have practical, pastoral and social dimensions. We hope the questions that the UCU student answers during his education are not only the theoretical postulates of his teachers. We hope the UCU student will answer questions that deal with human existence and come from the depth of human life. We also want the experience of the Ukrainian martyrs, among whom are former instructors and students of the pre-war Lviv Theological Academy, to strengthen the people of the UCU and encourage them to sacrificial service of neighbor.

Another task the UCU sets forth is to give people with special needs, who are deprived of the attention of society, a chance to feel the joy of a fulfilling life and self-realization. The UCU will gladly welcome students who, despite serious diseases or physical disability, discover a calling to academic activity. We will never consider our activity successful if success is measured only by the number of scientific discoveries, scholarly publications, the qualifications of instructors or the high rating of the university. It will only be successful when, in addition to academic progress, the contribution the UCU makes towards the faith, spiritual life and morality of every member of the university community, as well as the whole nation, increases.

The Global Context

We are deeply convinced that the further development of Ukraine as a modern European state can only benefit from more profound analysis and more thorough academic investigation of the rich spiritual heritage of Kyivan Christianity. By learning, adding to and presenting the riches of eastern Christianity to the whole world, the UCU strives to make its own contribution to ecumenical and cultural dialogue between the Christian East and West. The two vitally need each other and need open communication. The East and the West maintain the realization of their differences, being at the same time aware of the need to supplement each other. The UCU wants to become a place for communication between the East and the West.

The history of the first centuries of Christianity clearly indicates that Christian identity arises from dialogue as an answer to questions posed by one’s own life and, particularly, by the life of one’s neighbor. Developing one’s own identity presupposes deeper knowledge of one’s neighbor, as well as the elimination of stereotypes of one’s own personal exclusiveness. The Western churches are desperately looking for worthy interlocutors in the East, through whom they can learn more about themselves. The UCU wants to participate in this dialogue, feeling that it is its responsibility before world Christianity to do so.

On the other hand, we are looking forward to open and sincere talk with the Orthodox churches of Ukraine and the Christian East. The providence of God has made us brothers and sisters, since we are the children of one mother-Church. We will therefore do everything in our power so that the children of these churches can see themselves in the tasks the UCU sets for itself, in the spiritual atmosphere which will reign within the UCU’s walls, and most importantly in the service of God, which will be the basis of the UCU’s life and calling.

The UCU in Lviv is also called to become a global Ukrainian forum by undertaking the task that Patriarch Josyf Slipyj set for the UCU in Rome, when “the love of learning gathers all the scattered together.” The UCU needs to become a place for meeting and dialogue between Ukrainians, educated in different cultures, giving them an opportunity to participate in generating ideas and working out projects of nation-wide importance. In order to become a tool and a sign of unity between Ukrainians in the world, the UCU should harmoniously combine in its activity its identity as Ukrainian, Catholic and university. Only after we achieve this will we be able to make a unique contribution both to Ukrainian and international contexts.

Plans For Activities and Development

In accordance with the above-mentioned principles, we will build the educational and instructional processes in the UCU, set priorities in academic activities, and plan for the future development of the university. The UCU will focus primarily on education in the humanities. The development of a Christian outlook through the introduction of theological components into various disciplines will provide a good basis for this education. The theology degree program, as well as the university-wide department of theology, will be the core and the dynamic factor of the UCU’s Christian identity. Special attention will be paid to interdisciplinary training, which will be conducted in various forms: in the traditional departments, through the educational activities of the institutes, and during graduate studies. In the next 5 to 10 years, we plan to open a social science department, with special emphasis on Christian and social pedagogy, Christian ethics, sociology, psychology and political science. In addition, within the framework of the humanities department and the project on translations of patristic literature, we plan to introduce another specialty in classics. Opening a philosophy department, an institute of social work, an ecumenical institute and an institute of Byzantine studies are also among our plans.

Conclusion

The Ukrainian Catholic University stands as a symbol of the adulthood of Ukrainian Christianity, and its readiness for the challenges of the contemporary era, its readiness to proclaim Christ to the educated individual of the third millennium who, in a secularized world, keeps looking for God in his own life. Let this event, born from the deep and sacrificial faith of countless faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, become one more proof of the resurrection of our Church and God’s blessing on its pastoral service to the Ukrainian people.

Fr. Borys Gudziak was born on 24 November 1960 in Syracuse, New York, USA. He graduated from Syracuse University and the Papal Urbanian University in Rome. He received his Ph.D. in Slavic and Byzantine Studies in 1992 from Harvard University. In 1995, he completed a licentiate program in theology in the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.

Fr. Gudziak has spent the last ten years living and working in Ukraine. Since 1992, he has headed the Institute of Church History, which he himself established. In 1998, he was ordained a priest. In 2000, Fr. Gudziak was appointed rector of the Lviv Theological Academy and in 2002 he became rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University. Fr. Gudziak takes active part in numerous academic, religious and civic organizations.

Fr. Borys Gudziak has authored more than 50 scholarly works, including the monograph “Crisis and Reform: The Kyiv Metropolitanate, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the Genesis of the Union of Brest,” published by Harvard in 1998. He is also the coeditor of three issues of “The Ark,” a periodical collection of articles on church history, and four issues of a collection called “The Brest Readings.”