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 Monday 26 July 2010
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, once the world's largest underground Church, came from out of the catacombs. Viciously persecuted for a period of nearly half a century, one of the first initiatives of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, was to make the near century long dream of building the first Eastern Catholic University a reality. Built on the spiritual foundations of its predecessor, the Lviv Theological Academy, the Ukrainian Catholic University has in a short period of time established itself as not only the first Catholic University on post-Soviet soil, but also an academic institution of excellence and spiritual authenticity, applauded by the international press such as the Daily Telegraph of London, and The Economist, as potentially a significant player in European higher education.
With its astonishing growth and reputation, the Ukrainian Catholic University has also attracted for itself a stiff opposition from the ghosts of the old Soviet regime, who see in the Ukrainian Catholic University a threat to plans to rewind the political dynamic of far Eastern Europe. Fr. Borys Gudziak will speak not only about the work of the Ukrainian Catholic University in post-Soviet Ukraine, but on the broader theme of the place of Christian Spirituality in a post-Modern world.
About Fr. Borys Gudziak
Fr. Borys Gudziak, is the Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University - a mantle he takes from the legacy of martyrdom and scholarship left behind by the Lviv Theological Academy, and its original staff and students, including its famed first Rector - Josyf Slipyj, the inspiration behind Morris West's, The Shoes of the Fisherman.
Born in Syracuse, New York in 1960, Fr, Borys was educated at Syracuse University (BSc, Summa cum laude); the Pontifical University (S.T.B,, Magna cum laude}; Harvard University (Phd); and the Pontifical Oriental University in Rome. He has been a member of staff at Harvard University, the University of St. Paul Ottawa, the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome and the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
A polyglot, Fr. Borys speaks ten European languages, and has a record of publications not only extensive in number, but broad in the languages he chooses to convey his Christian message.
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