Ukrainian Catholic University inaugurates ecumenical institute (07/03/05)

Ukrainian Catholic University inaugurates ecumenical institute

by Petro Didula and Matthew Matuszak

LVIV - The Institute of Ecumenical Studies at the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv was inaugurated with an international ecumenical conference on June 13-14. Titled "Friendship as an Ecumenical Value," the conference drew approximately 300 participants: Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant, including more than 40 guests from the United States, Canada, France, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland, Italy and Ukraine. The UCU now has nine research institutes.

"Today [Eastern-rite] Catholics have become an obstacle in the official ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches," said Dr. Antoine Arjakovsky, director of the new institute and himself an Orthodox layman and French citizen. "So it is important that the new ecumenical initiative is arising in the environment of this Church." Lviv is the center of the Eastern-rite Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Among the presenters at the conference were Archbishop Antony of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., Dr. Konrad Raiser, former secretary general of the World Council of Churches; Konstantin Sigov, professor at the National University of the Kyiv Mohyla Academy (NUKMA); Archbishop Ihor Isichenko of the Kharkiv-Poltava Eparchy of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church; and Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

"Ukraine can become 'a laboratory of unity,' " said Cardinal Husar during his greeting to the conference on June 13. "But in order for this to happen, it needs to get rid of political, economic and other factors that put obstacles on the road to mutual understanding... People happily welcome meetings and joint prayers by hierarchs of different denominations. So what are we lacking in order to achieve unity? I believe we are lacking a concrete idea of what we are looking for. People have a desire, but don't have a specific description," the cardinal emphasized.

"Hundreds of people talk about ecumenism," Cardinal Husar continued. "But it's hard to find even a few people who can clearly explain what they understand by the word 'ecumenism.' " The cardinal then proposed that the new institute prepare a catechism of ecumenism which would explain, in a format simple and accessible for all, the tasks and goals that stand before the Churches to achieve unity and the forms and means of achieving it.

Dr. Arjakovsky was sitting by Dr. Raiser while the cardinal was making this proposition. Dr. Arjakovsky reported that Dr. Raiser responded: "A very interesting proposition, simple and wise. It's strange that we never even thought about something like that."

As part of the institute's inauguration, the Ukrainian Christian Academic Society was founded. The society is intended to be a permanent place where representatives of various academic communities can meet to discuss and approve proposals and projects of the institute. Partners in the founding of this society are the Center of European Humanities Research of NUKMA, the UCU, the St. Thomas Aquinas Institute in Kyiv, Ivan Franko Lviv National University, Patriarch Mstyslav College in Kharkiv, the revived Kyivan Church Study Group, and individual scholars belonging to various denominations in Ukraine.

Speaking on friendship, the main theme of the conference, Archbishop Antony started with the Gospel passage: "I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you," as Jesus said to his disciples in John 15:15. "If we really want our friendly relations and cooperation to lead to progress in the ecumenical dialogue," said the archbishop, "they cannot only be based on lightly considered feelings of particular acceptance of one another, but on mutual respect and support."

"Alienation can be overcome only in personal meeting," said Dr. Raiser. "It is not possible to achieve structures of ecumenical trust through reports, declarations or recommendation, but only through direct contact between human persons."

"For many centuries the Church has suffered from an unacceptable division," said Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine. "Because of human degradation, the flock of Christ was divided and remains so today." He praised the Ukrainian Catholic University for opening the Institute of Ecumenical Studies and expressed hope that its work will add a fresh impetus to improving mutual understanding among different churches.

"Ukraine is a natural geopolitical territory at the crossroads between East and West, giving rise to serious ecumenical movements," said Msgr. Iwan Dacko, president of the Institute of Ecumenical Studies. He outlined the three main directions of the institute's activities: the renewal of the Kyivan Church Study Group, which is an active contribution to the creation of an ecumenical culture in Ukraine; the establishment of the Ukrainian Christian Academic Society; and finally, promoting accord and dialogue between Christians.

"Let us not forget the Christian principle articulated by St. Augustine, who said 'unity in important things, freedom in doubtful things, and love in everything else,' " said Msgr. Dacko.

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Further information about the UCU in English and Ukrainian is available on the university's website at www.ucu.edu.ua. Readers may also contact the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, 2247 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60622; phone, (773) 235-8462; e-mail, [email protected]; website, www.ucef.org. The phone number of the UCEF in Canada is (416) 239-2495.

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