On April 21, 2026, Archbishop Borys Gudziak took part in a Member Prayer and Fellowship Breakfast in the Capital hosted by Notre Dame alumni, Rep. Mike Flood and Rep. Rudy Yakym, along with the University of Notre Dame (UND) and the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU). The breakfast’s aim was to highlight the shared mission of UND and UCU as well as their contributions in supporting of the people of Ukraine.
The morning started with a welcome by Rep. Mike Flood and was followed by Archbishop Borys who was asked to share his reflections on the war.
Archbishop Gudziak anchored his remarks in the Paschal Troparion of the Byzantine tradition, sung between Easter and Ascension: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and on those in the tombs bestowing life." He called it the heart of the Christian faith and the lens through which Ukraine's current suffering must be understood.
Drawing a direct line from original sin to modern warfare, the metropolitan described war as nothing less than the sum of all human sinfulness. "War is the conglomeration of all sins," he said. "It begins with a lie, goes to violence, bloodshed, unfortunately even genocide. And it starts from the sin of Adam to whom God gave everything and asked him to live the gift — instead Adam chose the grab."
Yet the Archbishop noted that people of faith draw hope from that same Troparion. "What we sing and proclaim is that the Lord has entered this life, and death cannot contain the source of life. It's crushed, it's trampled."
That theological conviction, he said, shapes everything about how UCU forms its students. He described conversations he regularly has with incoming students about what a university education is truly for.
"I talk about the fact that this university hopefully will prepare them for life, for their profession. They'll probably change it, so we don't know for sure. But we hope that it also prepares them for their marriage, for their family life. It will also prepare them for death."
It is not a morbid message, he explained, but a liberating one. "Because if you're prepared for death, if you can look death in the eye and live differently — if you know that death is just a passage to eternity — that hope and faith in life with God changes how you live every day. You live in God's presence."
That inner freedom, he continued, is what makes true witness possible — even witness unto death. "When we are with the Lord, we're free, we're strong. We can witness. A witness — martys in Greek — is somebody who stands for the truth and announces the truth. A martyr doesn't have a business plan or a bottom line, checking whether he'll win or lose. The martyr says, 'I might even lose. I might lose my life, but I am going to stand for the truth because I know that there is life eternal.'"
These were not abstractions. Archbishop Gudziak told those gathered that thirty-eight members of the UCU community have given their lives in the war — people he knows personally. Among them is Artemiy Dymyd, the son of his predecessor as rector, whom he knew from birth.
He then recounted the story of another UCU graduate that has stayed with him. A military medic was evacuating a wounded soldier from the front. Despite grievous injuries — tourniquets had been applied so long that the loss of limbs was almost certain — the soldier was strikingly calm and clear-headed. The medic, astonished, asked: "You are so calm — are you a medic?"
The soldier's answer: "No, I am a theologian."
His name is Oleh Tsunovskyi — a UCU graduate who earned his doctorate at the Gregorian University in Rome. He survived, received two prostheses, and today helps other wounded veterans through therapy.
"These are the people that we taught," the Archbishop said. "These are the people that teach me today. Not to fear, to look death in the eye if necessary, and to announce the good news. God's truth will prevail. We don't have to get angry. We don't have to fear."
Archbishop Gudziak closed with a reflection on what Ukraine's sacrifice means for the wider world — and particularly for a Western culture he described as increasingly transactional.
"We bring to you the witness of these young people who, in a world where many things are transactional, where people try to buy and sell a lot of things, are saying: not so fast. There are certain things you can't buy and sell. There's a difference between truth and lies, between good and evil. And we're willing to risk our lives for it. That, I think, is an important contribution that Ukraine is making to the world in this postmodern time. It is based on a deep faith, a journey, and God's presence — and God's incredible love, in which He gives His life for us."
Following his remarks, other members present shared their thoughts, including Rep. Don Bacon and Sen. Christopher Coons.
Senator Coons described attending a recent worship service at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church in Wilmington, Delaware — less than a mile from his home — and finding it "filled with this sort of grace and unexpected moments that is so typical of every worship experience I've had in or with Ukrainians."
In the congregation that day was the mother of an American volunteer who had died fighting for Ukraine. The family had no Ukrainian heritage whatsoever. Coons recalled her words: "My husband and I — we have no connection or history with Ukraine at all. Our ancestors fought for America's freedom in the Continental Army. And our son was so inspired by the fight and the spirit and the service of Ukrainians that he was willing to go fight and die."
"You are literally challenging us, inspiring us, and testing us to stand on the side of freedom in the modern world," Coons told the gathering.
The Senator also recounted spending Ash Wednesday in Odesa with a bipartisan Senate delegation. The group visited sites destroyed by Russian bombs, missiles, and drones before concluding the day at a prayer breakfast attended by roughly a hundred people — Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox, and Catholic leaders gathered together in solidarity.
"I was between the bishops of the Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic churches, who had a delightful theological debate over me," he said warmly. "The spirit in that room was just overwhelmingly positive."
He framed Ukraine's story in terms that echoed the Archbishop's own theological reflections: "Ukraine's story is a story of faith and resilience. It's a story of standing up for what matters."
Also present was Rep. Jeff Hurd. The breakfast concluded with Rep. Rudy Yakym stating how the story of Ukraine is a story of standing up for what matters.
