Metropolitan Borys Gudziak Visits Lviv and Opens the New Academic Year at the Ukrainian Catholic University
At the beginning of September, Archbishop and Metropolitan of Philadelphia, President of the Ukrainian Catholic University (head of the UCU Supervisory Board) Borys Gudziak led a series of significant events in Lviv marking the start of the new liturgical and academic year.
On September 1, Metropolitan Borys celebrated the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at the University Church of Holy Wisdom. In his homily, he emphasized the importance of community:
“The new liturgical year and academic year bring us here and now the fullness of the mystery and the good news of salvation… In community, our doubts do not prevail. When we carry the heaviest crosses together, we are healed. We are called to live in God’s love.”
That same day, the revitalized UCU building on Ilariona Sventsitskoho Street, 17, was officially opened. This historic site is where the revived Lviv Theological Academy, the predecessor of UCU, first began its work. “It is very moving to return to this building, which has undergone so much rethinking, attention to the human person, and creativity. On behalf of the senators and students, I thank the architects, builders, and everyone who contributed to the renovation,” said Metropolitan Borys.
On September 3, he presided at the first all-university Liturgy of the new academic year and addressed the master’s students: “You face great challenges and responsibilities. Your resilience, integrity, and deep love are sources of great hope. May the Lord bless you.”
On September 4, Lviv marked the anniversary of a Russian missile attack that claimed seven lives. During the memorial service, Metropolitan Borys reflected:
“Our faith is not an abstraction or a list of moral rules; our faith is an encounter between the human being and God… Let us embrace the Bazylevych family and all those who have lost loved ones in the war. Let us pray with great hope that the Lord will heal them. May the memory of our heroes—our sisters, wives, mothers, and relatives—be eternal.”
That same day, UCU hosted the Mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, and his delegation. Metropolitan Borys had invited him during his recent visit to the frontline city of Kharkiv.
On September 5, Metropolitan Gudziak blessed the opening of UCU’s Faculty of Law. “There is a great demand and longing for justice in Ukraine. Justice depends on judges who will defend the law, and so we need a new generation of lawyers. They are being formed at the UCU Faculty of Law,” he said.
On the same day, he also met with the newly elected rectors of two leading Lviv universities: Prof. Roman Hladyshchevskyi, Rector of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, and Prof. Nataliya Bohdanivna Shakhovska, D.Sc., Rector of Lviv Polytechnic National University.
On September 6, Metropolitan Borys chaired a meeting of the UCU Senate, the University’s Supervisory Board.
