Slovak Ecumenical Society Visits Ukrainian Catholic University In Lviv

The Slovakian delegation consisted of representatives of eight churches: the Slovak Orthodox Church, the Greek and Roman Catholic churches, the Slovak Brotherly Church, the Czechoslovakian Hussite Church, the Reformed Christian Church, the Lutheran Church and the European Religious Union. Among those on the UCU side were Fr. Borys Gudziak, rector of UCU, Prof. Myroslav Marynovych, vice-rector of External Affairs and director of the Institute of Religion and Society, as well as representatives of the institutes that function at UCU. The participants of the meeting emphasized the importance of ecumenism at the current stage of social development. The speakers from the UCU institutes of Church History, Marriage and Family Life, Religion and Society and the Catechetical-Pedagogical Institute stressed that the activities of UCU are based on ecumenical principles. This can be seen both in the staff selection policy of UCU, which has instructors and students of different religions and denominations, as well as in numerous ecumenical subjects that have been introduced into the UCU curriculum. Prof. Marynovych said that since Ukraine doesn’t have a separate institute of ecumenism, UCU conducts research on ecumenical issues for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) at the request of Cardinal Husar, head of the UGCC. In particular, UCU is working on developing the church’s ecumenical conception. The Ecumenical Society of Kosice was founded in 2000. According to moderator Dushan Havryla, MA, the society calls for peace, dialogue and mutual understanding between churches, religious organizations and the citizens of Kosice, which is home to many ethnic groups of different religions. The society also organizes joint religious services and supports the development of the citizens’ spiritual culture.