Ukrainian Catholic University Hosts Ecumenical Prayer

By Oksana Shkodzinska
and Taras Antoshevskyy

Lviv - In honour of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) hosted an interdenominational prayer service on January 21 that gathered local Orthodox, Protestants, and Catholics. The prayer week is celebrated from January 18, which marks the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, to January 25, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, according to the Gregorian calendar. It has been celebrated annually for many decades by Christians of various denominations in numerous countries throughout the world.

The main organizer of the prayer service (moleben) was UCU’s Institute of Ecumenical Studies. Participating in the joint prayer service were representatives of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, Armenian Apostolic Church, Evangelical Christian Church of Ukraine, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, and Christian youth groups.

“We don’t always properly understand what unity is,” said Rev. Tadeos Gevorgian, rector of Lviv’s Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God Cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In his sermon he added that the Church, regardless of differences in rites and ways of expressing the faith which have arisen through human imperfection, is truly one, for its head is Christ Himself.

“Administrative union cannot exist without the reunion of souls… Jesus created one Church, of which He is the Head. And we are the Body of the Church. So, truly the Church already today is not divided but one, inasmuch as it’s Head is one, Jesus Christ,” said Rev. Gevorgian. Our spiritual union, he emphasized, is what is most important, and it is based on the truths of the Holy Bible and the Symbol of Faith (Nicene Creed), which, he said, all Christians acknowledge, and also from the love of one another that the Lord bequeathed to us.

It is in love that our unity culminates, said Rev. Dr. Borys Gudziak, rector of UCU: “Holy unity, the unity of the love of people under one Lord”. Rev. Gudziak also noted the importance of the desire for unity referring to Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky who reflected on the question of the absence of unity among Christians, and said that an important reason for this was the absence of the desire for such unity among Christians themselves. “This Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has already achieved some success, even if it slightly strengthens our desire for unity. “Most important,” said Fr. Gudziak, “is the desire to praise God together and to ask Him to perfect us.” He added that the true healer of painful wounds like the division in the Church is God, and that people should at least not hinder God’s acts in this matter.

A Roman Catholic priest, Rev. Dr. Oleksandr Bishko, talked about how this healing process can be encouraged through prayer and works, in particular, by becoming aware of the great value of each person before the Lord, regardless of to which denomination he or she belongs.

Bishop Vasyl Boiechko of the Evangelical Christian Church of Ukraine drew a parallel between the divisions in Ukrainian society and divisions in the Church. He stated that the consequence of church division is the divisions we see in Ukrainian society. “We live in a time of discord in our country,” said Bishop Boiechko. “We see that our people are divided, disturbingly divided. Isn’t it a crime that people have faith in the Church, the Church has the greatest level of trust in our society, but this trust is not justified?”

Bishop Boiechko gave examples when in critical periods the voices of Christians in Ukraine were heard in union and so were heard and effective. Such examples should encourage us, he said: “Before us is the great matter of the rescue of the nation … In this period between the first and second rounds of the election we particularly have to pray. If the Lord does not intercede, we could end up in very difficult circumstances among the nations of the world,” said Bishop Boiechko. He stated that he considered it necessary for himself to be present at this ecumenical prayer service, an important contribution to Christianity in general and for Ukraine. “Let us not stop praying for the fate of our country,” he beseeched all present.

Taras Dmytryk, head of the Stauropegion Brotherhood of St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle, Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, emphasized the importance of prayers to the Most Holy Mother of God, who in her care unites all those who ask her to intercede before God.

Following the formal prayer service, the ecumenical event concluded with a pantomime performed by members of the Christian youth organization Living Flame on the theme of a person’s battle with the temptations of the modern world and the path to God.

Further information about the UCU (in English and Ukrainian) is available at www.ucu.edu.ua. The Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation is the largest supporter of UCU with financial assistance for scholarships allowing worthy students to get an excellent education, otherwise, they might not be able to afford. In the USA contact the UCEF at 2247 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60622; phone 773-235-8462; e-mail ucef@ucef.org; or visit www.ucef.org. The phone number of the UCEF in Canada is 416-239-2495 and e-mail: ucef@ucef.ca