An international scholarly conference entitled “University Chaplaincy in the Third Millennium: Eastern Europe” was held at Ivan Franko National University in Lviv from 25 to 27 October 2002. The conference was organized by the Patriarchal Commission on Youth Affairs of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), Ivan Franko National University, and the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU).
The participants of the conference discussed the issues of university chaplaincy, the problems and prospects of church-university relations, the experience of Europe and the Roman vicariate in the organization of university chaplaincy, and the role of Christian ethics and bioethics in academic ministry for youth. Among the participants of the conference were Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the UGCC, Cardinal Marian Jaworski of the Roman Catholic Church, Fr. Borys Gudziak, rector of UCU, Fr. Natale Loda, a representative of the Bishops’ Conference of Europe and the Roman Vicariate, as well as rectors and instructors from other universities in Lviv. Cardinal Husar emphasized the importance of a harmonious combination of spiritual and intellectual virtues in a chaplain. In addition, a meeting with youth was also held in the framework of the conference. Cardinal Husar stressed the significance of both private and public prayer and called upon the youth to participate actively in public prayer events.