Lviv Theological Academy receives $250,000 from Gudziak family (04/20/97)

Lviv Theological Academy receives $250,000 from Gudziak family

CHICAGO - The Lviv Theological Academy on April 7 announced the endowment of a new professorship in theology through a gift of $250,000 from Dr. Olexander and Yaroslava Gudziak.

Before an audience of 600 people at a multi-parish "sviachene" (Easter dinner) in Detroit, Bishop Lubomyr Husar presented the Gudziaks with an elegant scroll of gratitude from Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky and the Rev. Michael Dymyd, rector of the Lviv Theological Academy (LTA). Bishop Husar called the gift an important sign of hope in the face of Ukraine's problems.

Since its revival in 1994, the LTA has received many grants from Church organizations in Europe and America, but the Gudziak donation marks the first large gift by individuals. This is the second chair to be established at the LTA. A gift by Ss. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Parish in Chicago established the first chair in honor of it's former pastor, the Very Rev. Marian Butrynsky. Both endowments have been entrusted to the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation in Chicago.

Dr. Gudziak explained his motivation: "When I was leaving Ukraine as an 18-year-old in 1944, my father's parting words were, 'Son, education is something no one can take away from you.' My wife and I believe that theological education in post-Soviet Ukraine is extremely important. We believe that the young students in the Theological Academy will be Ukraine's spiritual leaders. We want to help them in every way possible."

Dr. Gudziak was a successful dentist in Syracuse, N.Y., and the family has been a generous donor to Ukrainian causes, including The Ukrainian Museum in New York, the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and various Church causes. Their older son, Borys, is vice-rector of the LTA, and their younger son is a doctor in Detroit.

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