Rev. Gudziak installed as rector of Lviv Theological Academy (10/22/00)

Rev. Gudziak installed as rector of Lviv Theological Academy

CHICAGO - The Rev. Borys A. Gudziak Ph.D. was installed as rector of the Lviv Theological Academy (LTA) in Ukraine on September 14. The academy's chancellor, Bishop Lubomyr Husar, auxiliary to the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, conducted the installation. As rector, the Rev. Gudziak is responsible for the overall vision, direction and development of the LTA as a Catholic institution of higher learning.

Official ceremonies began with a morning liturgy at St. George Cathedral. Eight bishops were present and the new processional flag of the LTA was blessed.

Prior to succeeding the Rev. Mykhajlo Dymyd as rector, the Rev. Gudziak served as LTA vice-rector (1995-2000). He chaired the Commission for the Revival of the LTA (1993-1995), and was the founding director in 1992 of the Institute for Church History, a position he still maintains.

Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky, the great leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, established the LTA in 1928. When Communists took over western Ukraine in 1944, the school was shut down. After a 50-year forced hiatus, the LTA reopened in 1994. At that time, the Rev. Gudziak and others committed to Catholic education opened the school's doors, starting with no students, no books, no faculty, no campus and no funding.

"As the new rector, I am honored and humbled to carry on the legacy of the LTA as established by Metropolitan Sheptytsky and subsequently succeeded by Cardinal Josyf Slipyi," reflected the Rev. Gudziak. "We have a unique opportunity in Ukraine to model a new type of Catholic university with a new vision. My mandate is to bring that model to fruition fully grounded in the legacy of our Church leaders."

Within a few short years much headway has been made. In November 1998 the LTA received official accreditation from the Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome, whereby the LTA baccalaureate in theology is recognized at every Catholic educational institution throughout the world.

At the time the LTA acquired accreditation, Leonid Kuchma, president of Ukraine, proudly noted, "This is the first time ever that a Ukrainian institution has received such recognition." According to the Rev. Gudziak, the accreditation from Rome "provides real criteria by which we can work to obtain accreditation from the state." However, the Ukrainian government does not yet recognize theology as a field of study.

While pursuing state accreditation, the Rev. Gudziak added that in July 1999 the LTA held its first commencement in more than 50 years. Today the LTA boasts two campuses and more than 400 students, including over 200 seminarians. Women are being offered theological education for the first time in the history of Ukraine.

The Rev. Gudziak noted that "the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation (UCEF) in Chicago has been and continues to be a major contributor to the growth of the LTA. Through the enormous generosity of its many American donors, the LTA is the grateful beneficiary of much-needed financial support, donated books and learning materials, and volunteers."

Helping to rebuild Ukraine's religious and educational infrastructures, the UCEF was founded in 1997 to teach Americans about the needs of Catholic education in Ukraine. The UCEF operates several international programs to develop Ukrainian Catholic seminarians; educate students in a Catholic school setting and provide cultural exchange opportunities.

A recipient of numerous awards and honors, the Rev. Gudziak earned a doctoral degree in Slavic and Byzantine Church and cultural history from Harvard University, and a licentiate degree in theology from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, where he currently is working on a doctorate in theology.

The Rev. Gudziak is the author of "Crisis and Reform: The Kievan Metropolitanate, the Patriarchate of Constantinople," and the Genesis of the Union of Brest, a religious, cultural and historical study of 16th century Slavic Church history. He is the author of numerous internationally published articles on political, cultural and religious affairs, and academic curricula. He also is editor of six volumes of conference proceedings on the Union of Brest and is co-editor of Kovcheh, a journal of Church history.

His teaching engagements include Harvard University; the Sheptytsky Institute, University of St. Paul, Ottawa; and Lviv State University.

The Rev. Gudziak is the son of Dr. Alexander and Jaroslava Gudziak of Syracuse, N.Y.

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