“Endurance and Resilience: Looking into the Future” — a Discussion with Metropolitan Borys Gudziak at the Lviv Book Forum
Lviv, October 4, 2025. As part of this year’s Lviv Book Forum, a panel discussion titled “Endurance and Resilience: Looking into the Future” brought together prominent Ukrainian and international intellectuals. Among the participants were Yaroslav Hrytsak, Vakhtang Kebuladze, Oleksandr Komarov, Serhii Plokhy, and Metropolitan Borys Gudziak.
During the conversation, the participants reflected on the challenges that society faces today — both individually and collectively. They spoke about the historical and spiritual experience, resilience in the time of war, and how to contemplate time and eternity amid the realities of contemporary Ukraine.
In his remarks, Metropolitan Borys Gudziak shared reflections on the inner strength of the human person amid prolonged trials. “Endurance makes us objects. The war will continue, and we have no control over that. Most of us cannot stop a missile or control drones. But we can have authority over what happens within us. And here, it seems to me, it is very important for each of us to work on ourselves — and to work with others,” the Metropolitan emphasized.
He also drew attention to the spiritual dimension of the wartime experience — the possibility of finding not only pain but also meaning that transcends human life. “We can help others reflect on what eternity is. For someone who risks their life for something greater does so with an awareness that there is something beyond themselves,” the Archbishop noted.
Metropolitan Borys also touched on the theme of death — as an integral part of life that modern Western culture often struggles to confront. “There are soldiers here, philosophers, soldiers among the audience. I believe more than one soldier knows and believes that there is something greater than oneself — that there is eternity, that there are things worth sacrificing one’s life for. The Western world does not know how to look at death. It turns away from it. And Ukraine today is destined to look death in the eye. I do not wish this, but it is a fact. And I am convinced that the world’s attention has turned to Ukraine because people have seen others who risk their lives — and do so consciously,” the Metropolitan said.
According to Metropolitan Borys, this existential experience — the ability to face death and not break — is the source of the Ukrainian people’s spiritual resilience. It is what compels the world to reflect: What is the meaning of life, and for what is it worth giving one’s life?
The discussion was part of a broader Forum program devoted to the themes of resilience, the culture of memory, and spiritual steadfastness in a changing world.
