“We Need a Theology Born of Experience” — Metropolitan Borys Gudziak
From September 26–28, the Ukrainian Catholic University hosted the All-Church Forum “UGCC Theology in the 21st Century: Signs of the Times and Hopes.” Nearly 200 scholars, priests, and consecrated persons gathered to reflect on the mission of theology today. The forum was opened by His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the UGCC, and concluded with remarks from Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, who joined online.
The Metropolitan noted that the forum began on the feast of St. John the Theologian — the patron of UCU’s Faculty of Philosophy and Theology and the first in Church history to be called a theologian. “He leaned his ear to the Lord’s heart, heard its beat, and sensed the fragrance of God’s presence among us. John was closest to Christ, and through him the Savior entrusted humanity with the Mother of God. You all, as beloved sons and daughters of the Lord, are heirs of John the Theologian and of all the apostles. I thank God for you and for your dedication,” he said.
Looking back, Metropolitan Borys recalled the beginnings of theological education after the UGCC emerged from the underground more than 35 years ago: “At that time, Fr. Myron Bendyk organized courses for priests in village houses, Fr. Andriy Chirovsky came with the first theological lectures, and Fr. Mykhailo Dymyd taught a large group of priests and seminarians. Those were times when, in a country of more than 50 million people, there was virtually not a single academically trained theologian. And today our Church, scholarship, universities, seminaries, publications, and all of you are a guidepost for Ukrainian society. And this calls us to great responsibility.”
He then spoke about the challenges facing theology today: “We need a theology that flows from the experience that surrounds us — from war and wounds… Our theology is also repentant, humble; it sees our weaknesses and our strength in God and in mutual communion that was preserved through decades of underground life… The strength of the marginalized and the weak lies in communion, in closeness.”
“I hope that our theology will be able to comprehend today’s losses, pain, deaths, and the brutality of this war, drawing not only on the wisdom of recent days but also of recent decades and centuries. We must not be afraid to go to the business world, to be present on the Maidan, to speak God’s word in the political sphere,” the Metropolitan added.
He also called to broaden the vision of theology: it should not rely only on the perspectives of priests or scholars, but also embrace the voices of women and of laity. Only then, he stressed, will theology be fuller and closer to the real life of the people.
