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UCU
Ukrainian Catholic University is a private scientific and educational theological institution in Lviv.
The founder of modern UCU is the Foundation of St. Clement, the ultimate beneficiary of which is the owner. Borys Hudziak, and the founders are also Anna Kozak and Myroslav Marynovych. At the same time, the university is considered the successor of the Greek Catholic Theological Academy, which was founded in 1928 on the initiative and with the blessing of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky on the basis of the Theological Seminary.
After the closure of the Academy in April 1945, its mission and functions were taken over by the Ukrainian Catholic University. st. Clement in Rome, organized and headed in 1963 by Metropolitan Joseph the Blind. In 1994, the Academy was reestablished as the Lviv Theological Academy (LBA), and in the summer of 2002, the Academy was reorganized into the Ukrainian Catholic University.
In 1998, the LBA received international accreditation. The first rector of the restored LBA was Fr. Mihailo Dimid. In 2000, he was succeeded by Fr. Borys Gudziak, who in 2002 by the decision of the Foundation of St. Clement was appointed the first rector of UCU. Since 2013, the rector is Fr. Dr. Bogdan Prah, Bishop Boris Gudziak - President.
Throughout history, theological teaching has taken various forms; for example, during the first centuries of Christianity its expression was the oral tradition of the Liturgy. It was not until the Middle Ages that schools and universities emerged in the West, where theology as a science began to be studied.
In response to the challenge of the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, the first Ukrainian theological schools emerged, particularly in Ostroh and Lviv, which significantly influenced the religious and cultural revival of Ukraine in the late 16th century. After the Brest Union, in the conditions of church division and inter-confessional confrontation, different conditions were created for the development of education and theology in both branches of the Kyiv Church.
For the Orthodox Church of the 17th century, this division proved to be extremely fruitful, in particular due to the reforms of Petro Mohyla and the activities of his offspring, the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The theological synthesis between East and West, the general openness to the "free sciences", the willingness to introduce theology into culture and culture into theology, contributed to the fact that the Academy became the intellectual center of all Eastern Christianity.
Attempts by the Greek Catholic Church to develop its own school system during this period were unsuccessful - and only a few clergy were able to study at Catholic universities and papal colleges. Under the conditions of post-Tridentine uniformity and constant lack of national intellectual forces, a tradition arose to rely on foreign educational and scientific institutions, on foreign forces and minds, a tradition that is firmly entrenched in the Church and resulted in Latinization and cultural Polonization.
Changes took place only at the end of the 18th century, when the Greek Catholic General Seminary in Vienna (1774) was founded with the assistance of the Austrian authorities, which was moved to Lviv in 1783. For a century and a half, seminarians studied at the faculties of philosophy and theology at Lviv University, although even in this educational institution it was not possible to revive and nurture the traditions of Kyiv Christianity.
In the twentieth century, the organization of theological education of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has undergone significant changes. As early as 1905, at a session of the Austrian parliament, Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky demanded the establishment of a Ukrainian university. The hardships of the First World War and the unfavorable political circumstances of the time did not allow this intention to be realized quickly.
The actions of the Polish authorities were the impetus for the intensification of the development of Ukrainian higher education in Galicia. Thus, in 1918, in line with the general policy of Polonization at the University of Lviv, Ukrainian departments were closed, Ukrainian professors were fired, and the pressure of church Latinization intensified. The secret Ukrainian university, which became a temporary refuge for Ukrainian professors and students, was forcibly liquidated in 1925. In this context, Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky took the initiative to establish a higher theological school.
On February 22, 1928, Metropolitan Sheptytsky issued a decree on the establishment of the Greek Catholic Theological Academy in Lviv, and on October 6, 1929, its grand opening took place. The first rector is Fr. Dr. Joseph the Blind. Having united around itself the leading circles of the Western Ukrainian intelligentsia, the Academy immediately became the center of theological and philosophical sciences. It was the only Ukrainian higher education institution in what was then Poland. During the 10 years of its existence, the Academy has grown significantly: new faculties and departments have been opened, the number of professors has increased to 40, the publishing business has been developed, and a library has been formed. At the end of 1931, a museum was established at the Academy, headed by Dr. Mykhailo Dragan. From the very beginning, the Theological Academy has tried to introduce Eastern perspectives, to inculturate theology, although the boundaries for such initiatives in the Catholic Church, including up to the Second Vatican Council, were quite narrow.
After the arrival of Soviet troops in Galicia in September 1939, the Academy was closed and students were repressed. As a result of the German bombing on September 15, 1939, the Academic Church of the Holy Spirit and the library were destroyed. During the German occupation, training resumed at the Academy, albeit with a small teaching staff. Of the 500 students who studied in 1941–1944, only 60 received diplomas. After the repeated Soviet occupation in the spring of 1945, the Theological Academy was finally closed. A significant number of graduates and professors of the Academy (including the long-term rector and, after the death of Metropolitan Andrei, the Head of the UGCC Joseph the Blind) found themselves in the Siberian Gulag or in exile.
However, the Church survived in the catacombs: bishops and priests secretly conducted their pastoral work, monasteries operated, and seminarians studied underground. Professors and spiritual mentors in these circumstances were mostly former teachers and graduates of the Academy.
The situation with theological education was difficult for Greek Catholics who were in exile. Due to the lack of their schools, they were again forced to "borrow" knowledge where foreign issues were discussed. In 1963, after 18 years of imprisonment and camps, the head of the UGCC, Joseph the Blind, arrived in Rome. One of his first decrees concerned the establishment of the Ukrainian Catholic University; shortly afterwards, the Patriarch founded the College of St. Sophia. Students of UCU and the College of St. Sophia under the spiritual care of Patriarch Joseph thought that the Church needs its theology, its approach to theology, it needs to have its own scientific and educational institution. Already in the 1970's and 1980's, Ukrainian seminarians studying in Rome considered the prospect of establishing a Ukrainian Catholic theological faculty and developed appropriate curricula that would meet the needs of our Church. Later, thanks to their efforts, the restoration of the Lviv Theological Academy began.
In 1992, with the blessing of the Head of the UGCC, Supreme Archbishop Myroslav Ivan Cardinal Lyubachivsky, a commission was set up to restore the Theological Academy. In 1994, the Lviv Synod of Bishops voted to restore the LBA. In September of the same year, the Academy was officially opened. After the opening of the Academy in 1994, the admission of students and the first two years of study, the leadership of the LBA began work on its accreditation. In 1998, the Academy was recognized by the Congregation for Catholic Education. The bachelor's degree in theology, awarded to the Academy's first graduates in 1999, is recognized by all Catholics and many non-Catholics in the world. Since 1999, the research unit of the Institute of Liturgical Sciences has been operating.
On June 28, 2002, the Academy was reorganized into the Ukrainian Catholic University. In 2003, UCU opened its own publishing house.
In the summer of 1999, the Academy hosted graduation ceremonies for the first twenty-eight graduates. For the first time in the Ukrainian Higher Theological School, lay people received a bachelor's degree, for the first time in Ukraine women became certified theologians, and for the first time a diploma issued by a Ukrainian theological institution had international recognition.
Since 2004, the UCU has had the Institute of Ecumenical Studies, which has an autonomous status and conducts research and educational work in the field of interfaith and interreligious relations. Ecumenical and distance learning programs of ecumenical sciences operate on the basis of the institute.
In 2007, the Ukrainian Catholic University received licenses from the Ministry of Education of Ukraine to train specialists in Theology (Theology) and History (Bachelor's, Specialist, Master's) and Social Pedagogy. -qualification level - bachelor).
The Secretariat of the International Christian Movement "Faith and Light" in Ukraine is located on the territory of the University.
On June 30, 2015, the State Accreditation Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine decided to grant a license to the Ukrainian Catholic University to prepare bachelors in 6.050101 "Computer Science" in the field of knowledge 0501 "Informatics and Computer Science".
Graduates of the CS @ UCU program will have a state diploma with the qualification "Information Technology Specialist".
"Freedom Lecture" in memory of Oleksandr Kryvenko is an annual public lecture at the Ukrainian Catholic University in memory of journalist Sashko Kryvenko. It is informally organized by Krivenko's comrades every year close to his birthday (May 13).
The topic of the lecture is about freedom in a broad sense and personal understanding of the lecturer. The structure of the action: a word-memoir about O. Kryvenko, a word-presentation of the lecturer, the lecture itself. Traditionally, at the same time as the lecture, the Kryvenko Prize for Progress in Journalism is awarded to the best Ukrainian publicist.
Readers:
- 2004 - Adam Michnik, editor of the Polish "Gazeta Wyborcza";
- 2005 - (experimental) premiere of the documentary;
- 2006 - Bogumila Berdychowska, Polish publicist;
- 2007 - Savik Shuster, journalist;
- 2008 - Fr. Boris Gudziak, Rector of UCU;
- 2009 - Yuri Andrukhovych, writer;
- 2010 - Anton Oliynyk, Professor (Institutional Economics), Memorial University (Canada), Higher School of Economics (Russia).
- 2011 - Vsevolod Rechytskyi, constitutional expert of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group.
- 2012 - Serhiy Rachmanin, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Mirror of the Week.
- 2013 - Natalia Yakovenko, historian.
- 2014 - Akhtem Seitablaev, film director.
- 2015 - Elena Styazhkina, historian.
- 2016 - Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, musician.
- 2017 - Boris Kherson, writer.
- 2018 - Igor Kozlovsky, theologian.
- 2019 - Yaroslav Hrytsak, historian.
The idea of creating a state-of-the-art campus appeared in 1999, when UCU purchased an unfinished theater building of the Prykarpattia Military District, including an area of 4 hectares, near Stryj Park. Already in June 2001, Pope John Paul II, together with His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar and the bishops of the UGCC, consecrated the cornerstone of the future town. After a long break on September 5, 2010, a capsule was laid for the construction of the UCU campus. The consecration was carried out by the then head of the UGCC, Patriarch Lubomyr Husar, and Bishop Borys Gudziak together with the bishops of the UGCC.
The Collegium project was carried out by the American firm KMW (Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects), which was selected from among 15 firms participating in the tender. The project was adapted by the Ukrainian company UDG (Ukrainian Design Group). Lviv-based construction company TVD was engaged in construction gene contracting. Construction began in August 2010 and was completed in September 2012. The total area of the Collegium is 7,500 square meters, the size of an average football field.
On August 26, 2012, the Collegium named after Patriarch Joseph the Blind on the basis of the campus of the Ukrainian Catholic University. The head of the UGCC Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) and Bishop Borys (Gudziak) together with the bishops and priests of the UGCC held the consecration ceremony of the newly built Collegium.
The college is home to about 200 students, three teachers and several staff members, as well as three Redemptorist sisters, who create a special university community and a homely atmosphere. The college has a special housing for people with special needs from the community "L'Arche" ("Ark"). The Collegium also has about a hundred living rooms. A significant part of the premises will be occupied by various workshops and clubs, a choir room, a cinema hall, a gym, student self-government rooms and a laundry.
- Faculty of Philosophy and Theology
- Faculty of Humanities
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Faculty of Social Sciences
- Faculty of Applied Sciences
- UCU Lviv Business School
- Ukraine Kyiv center
- Ukraine School of Management of the Ukrainian Catholic University
- USA Ukrainian Catholic Educational Foundation - USA
- Italy Institute of St. Pope Clement in Rome
- United Kingdom Ukrainian Institute in London
- Canada Ukrainian Catholic Educational Foundation - Canada
- Argentina UCU branch in Argentina
- Solchanyk Bohdan Zinoviyovych - from the Heavenly Hundred.
- Boris (Gudziak)
- Miroslav Marinovich
- Yaroslav Hrytsak
- Mihailo Dimid
