Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation coordinates programs for Ukraine's seminarians

CHICAGO - For most American students, summer is a time for vacation: long days, warm evenings and cold drinks on the beach. However, for Yurii Sakvuk, a sixth-year seminarian from the Lviv Theological Academy, this summer was a time for work, pastoral ministry and cultural exchange.

The Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation (UCEF) of Chicago, in cooperation with the theological academy, coordinated six different programs that included parish internships in England and Chicago, an inner-city mission in Toronto and study programs at Harvard University, Mount Tabor Monastery in California and Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina.

The program is much more than an opportunity for students to improve their English, which must be at an upper-intermediate level just to be accepted. Students get to see first-hand how Western communities and religious institutions operate.

In Chicago, Mr. Sakvuk and three other seminarians lived and worked at the parish of Ss. Volodymyr and Olha. They celebrated daily liturgy, visited the sick and elderly, took part in parish events, and met with members of the community for discussions on the contemporary Ukrainian Catholic Church and relations between Ukrainians in the diaspora and those in Ukraine.

Mr. Sakvuk evaluated the program as "perfect." He explained: "In Ukraine, we do not have parishes like Ss. Volodymyr and Olha, where the priests care so much about liturgical life and where parishioners are actively involved in different groups or clubs, whether it be the seniors, or the sisterhood, or the youth."

For the seminarian, the parish internship was also an opportunity to practice priestly responsibilities. "We each gave one homily every week and conducted the weekly radio program. As priests, we must actively engage the faith of our people. We have seen how this is done in America, and we must bring this knowledge back to Ukraine to prepare our Church for the 21st century," he said.

The idea of actively engaging people in questions of the Christian faith was important also to fourth-year seminarian Serhii Mykhaliuk. In addition to his parish work in Chicago, Mr. Mykhaliuk helped out at the Plast summer camp in Baraboo, Wis.

He reflected upon the experience: "There was a great spirit among the young people at the Plast camp. They want to learn more about the Catholic faith. We had many constructive discussions about the problems that face young people in America and Ukraine, and how the teachings of the Gospel can help. We also had a lot of fun singing our Ukrainian folk songs."

Entry into the UCEF's program is highly competitive. Only the most advanced students of the Lviv Theological Academy are accepted. These students must have good grades and must submit a written request explaining why they want to study abroad or undertake an internship. A faculty committee then selects the top applicants and assigns them to a country.

Perhaps one of the most significant elements of the program is the cultural exchange. Sixth-year seminarian Oleksander Taran aptly described his experience. "In Ukraine, we don't really know about the rest of the world, except for the Soviet lies we learned as children. We're afraid to open ourselves to the rest of the world. But in America people are open, and I felt this, too. I was able to share my thoughts and feelings with others and I learned that the differences between people from different countries are not so important as the similarities."

Funding for the program comes from various sources, including the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, the Ukrainian Studies Fund and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association.

For more information (or to send a contributions) contact: Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, 2247 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60622-4828; UCEFCHGO@aol.com

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 8, 1998, No. 45, Vol. LXVI

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