The Department of Humanities and the Institute of Church History of the Ukrainian Catholic University are pleased to announce an International Conference commemorating the 65th anniversary of the death of Andrei Sheptyts’kyi (†1.11.1944) to be held in Lviv, Ukraine, from October 30 to November 1, 2009.

The conference will focus on the following three aspects of research:

1. «The Metropolitan and His Church»: Sheptyts’kyi’s activities as the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, as Church leader and ecclesiastical administrator; the practical steps he took to strengthen the church’s institutional efficiency, the convocation of synods and his role in major church issues. Special emphasis will be placed on (a) the «great turn eastwards» introduced by the Metropolitan in the life of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church at the beginning of the twentieth century, and (b) his establishment of the Lviv Theological Academy in 1928-1929.

2. «The Metropolitan and His People»: Sheptyts’kyi’s activities as shepherd of his people, pastoral letters and addresses to the faithful, his concern regarding the moral state of the people, participation in public life and leading role in the development of Ukrainian national culture. Special attention should be focussed on activities which testify to the Metropolitan’s bold readiness to «go against the current» and to criticize those aspects of his contemporaries’ political activity which he considered to be morally detrimental.

3. «The Metropolitan and His Ecumenical Universe»: The universal dimension of Sheptyts’kyi’s achievements, his international contacts, including those with non-Catholics, with special regard to the Metropolitan’s ecumenical legacy, much of which was misinterpreted during his lifetime and remains unknown; those aspects of his legacy which makes it possible to speak of him as an ecumenic visionary. His ecumenical view of Christian unity, which he often referred to as «union» but which, after deeper analysis, reveals to be a concept that extends far beyond historical «unions».

The aim of the conference is to review existing sources, to evaluate the current state of research, and to stimulate further study of the activities and legacy of the Metropolitan Sheptyts’kyi.

Conference working languages: Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, English (no translation will be provided).

The conference will conclude with a solemn ceremony honoring the Metropolitan and with a Divine Liturgy that will take place on Sunday, November 1 – the official day of remembrance of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptyts’kyi.

Please confirm your intention to participate in the conference and indicate the subject of your presentation by 30 May 2009.

We look forward to receiving your abstract, up to 5 pages in length, by email and kindly request that you send the abstract to the following persons simultaneously: Yury Avvakumov, yavvakum@ucu.edu.ua; Ulana Holovatch, holov@ucu.edu.ua. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is the end of July 2009.

All participants will be provided with board and lodging for three nights. In exceptional cases, participants may apply to the organizers for a grant to cover travel costs. A submitted abstract and a short justification are mandatory for it.

For more information and details, please write to Ulana Holovatch: holov@ucu.edu.ua

Conference Organizing Committee:

Borys Gudziak, Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University
Yury Avvakumov, Head of the Organizing Committee
Liliana Hentosh
Ulana Holovatch
Andriy Mykhaleyko
Oleh Turiy