Greek Catholic Scholars Discuss Status and Prospects of Theology in Church

Greek Catholic theologians from the leading Ukrainian spiritual institutions gathered in Lviv for a scholarly conference “UGCC: 20 years after the underground. The achievements, difficulties and prospects of the establishment of the spiritual-theological identity.” They will have discussions on this general theme for two days, on 24-25 November at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. The event is organized by the Department of Theology of UCU.

According to the head of the Department of Theology, Viktor Zhukovskyi, the conference is aimed to review what have been done since the time of the forum of Greek Catholic theologians Kairos in 2005.

“Our review will deal with all the 20 years, which have passed since the underground time. We will discuss the issues of our theological identity not only in the academic-scholarly format but mainly, we intend to inscribe our theological theory in the specificity of actual projects, for instance, books, monographs, etc.,” said Viktor Zhukovskyi.

After a liturgy led by Archbishop Ihor (Vozniak) of Lviv, the first plenary session began. The achievements and prospects of the Biblical theology were presented by Fr. Taras Barshchevskyi in his report. Deacon Oleh Kindii outlined the status of the patristic theology. Doctor of Liturgical sciences, Mykhailo Petrovych told the audience about the achievements and problems of liturgical theologians of UGCC.

A lively discussion was held with the participation of all those present. It was focused on the practical dimension of the Theological science. The participants tried to give an answer to the question how theology formed in scholarly institutions can influence the life of the whole Church.

Viktor Zhukovskyi presented the dogmatic section. Doctor Ihor Boiko, the dean of the Philosophical-Theological Department of UCU analyzed the development of moral theology in UGCC.

The discussions continued in small groups.