Alumni Association is revived at Lviv Theological Academy (04/14/02)

Alumni Association is revived at Lviv Theological Academy

LVIV - After a 20-year hiatus, the Alumni Association of the Lviv Theological Academy (LTA) has been revived. The LTA graduated its first post-war class in 1999, so there are now three years of fresh graduates to give the association vigor, and there are more graduates to come. The sterling example of numerous pre-war graduates and the active assistance of a remaining few are an inspiration for 200 new active members.

The academy's pre-war alumni list is composed of such distinguished figures as the late Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky and Fathers Roman Lysko and Oleksii Zarytskyi, two of the new Ukrainian martyrs beatified by Pope John Paul II in Lviv last June.

The last meeting of pre-war alumni was held in Toronto, in May 1980. Michael Boyko (Florida, class of 1938) served as the secretary of the gathering. With the blessing of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, 59 graduates convened in honor of the 50th anniversary of the academy's establishment in 1928.

Mr. Boyko decided to help the Theological Academy and has made significant contributions to the LTA library. In addition to books for the general collection, Mr. Boyko donated a rare document for the archives, the recollections of painter Mykhailo Moroz attesting to the heroic virtues of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. Mr. Boyko has agreed to serve as honorary chair of the revived Alumni Association.

Mr. Boyko has also established an endowment for his alma mater, the Michael and Iryna Boyko Endowment, the proceeds of which will be used for the Eastern Christian Studies program at the Ukrainian Catholic University.

Prof. Wasyl Lencyk (Connecticut, class of 1939), said he was "the first who wrote about the Theological Academy, way back in 1955." And for that piece, which was published in Logos, the late Patriarch Josyf wrote him that "I myself could not have written it better." Dr. Lencyk, who was a contributor to Bohoslovia when Bishop Ivan Khoma was the editor, under the patronage of Patriarch Josyf, still takes an active interest in the journal Bohoslovia, which is published by the Ukrainian Academic Theological Society in cooperation with the LTA.

Activities in Ukraine

There are even pre-war alumni still active in Ukraine. Father Mykola Prystai (class of 1937) has returned to live at the seminary in Rudno, where he serves as the librarian. Father Prystai was recently featured on a program on Lviv television dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Patriarch Josyf. He spoke of his memories of studying as a seminarian when Father Slipyj was rector; he recalled, for example, how Rector Slipyj asked him to sing for his entrance interview, "though I had never even thought about singing before."

Though the academy itself was revived in 1994, after a 50-year hiatus, its Alumni Association resumed activity only in the summer of 2001. At the commencement ceremony, Father Deacon Yurii Sakvuk (class of 1999), now press secretary for Cardinal Husar, and Olha Zarunchyna (class of 2000) welcomed new graduates into the revived Alumni Association.

The current head of the alumni association, Ms. Zaruchynska, reflects one of the obvious differences of the revived LTA. In addition to the seminary campus in nearby Rudno, the academy also now has a separate campus in Lviv for laypeople and religious. Ms. Zaruchynska is married to alumnus Oleh Behen (class of 1999). Like the seminarians, the laypersons studied philosophy and theology, taught by the same teachers who instruct in Rudno.

Another difference of the revived academy is its impending accreditation as a university. That dream of Metropolitan Sheptytsky and Patriarch Josyf Slipyj is expected to be realized within a few months as the Lviv Theological Academy will be accredited by the Ukrainian government as the Ukrainian Catholic University. A history department and a licentiate program in sacred theology were added in the fall of 2001, and further developments in the humanities and social sciences departments are planned.

Ms. Zaruchynska reported that in the fall of 2001 Father Michael Loza led a retreat for the Alumni Association. Father Loza is the director of the Canadian branch of the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, the academy's partner in North America.

Upcoming plans of the Alumni Association include a project to tidy up the graves of deceased LTA alumni in the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv.

Further information about the LTA in English and Ukrainian is available on the academy's website at www.lta.lviv.ua. Readers may also contact the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation, 2247 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60622; phone, (773) 235-8462; e-mail, ucef@ucef.org; website, www.ucef.org. The phone number of the UCEF in Canada is (905) 465-3388.

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