Faithful in Ukraine show support for Ukrainian Catholic University (09/26/04)

Faithful in Ukraine show support for Ukrainian Catholic University

by Matthew Matuszak

LVIV - On Sunday, September 5, 89 students and 11 staffers of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv travelled to numerous parishes of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) throughout western Ukraine, collecting donations and spreading the word about the UCU. Approximately 6,000 donations were collected.

"This is the first such collection done across large parts of Ukraine," said Prof. Jeffrey Wills, vice-rector at the UCU. Students and staff of the university travelled throughout parishes in Halychyna, passing out brochures about the UCU, talking about the university and accepting donations.

The parish of St. Michael the Archangel in Lviv, run by the Studite order, "can't remember a collection this big," said Prof. Wills. The collection there totalled about 2,000 hrv (approximately $380), with more than 600 donors. Lviv's St. Josaphat the Martyr Parish had the highest number of donors, 719, who also gave the largest total donation, 2,700 hrv (approximately $514). Two parishes in Kyiv totalled over 400 donors. UCU staff also collected in the Ternopil region and Kolomyia district.

As a token of thanks, each parish was given a stack of publications from the university's press to enrich the parish library.

"Last year, participants of the Metropolitan Synod of our Church decided to turn to you asking to gather funds for certain causes," wrote Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the UGCC in an August 5 letter addressed to the faithful. The collection for the needs and development of the UCU was the first of these collections to be held; other causes mentioned are support of pastoral ministry for those serving in Ukraine's armed forces and the needy.

"Ukrainian Greek-Catholics dreamed of having their own university throughout the whole 20th century," wrote the cardinal. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and Patriarch Josyf Slipyj both made attempts to achieve this. "Only after Ukrainian independence was achieved was the renewal of the [Lviv] Theological Academy possible," wrote the cardinal, and the academy was then raised to the level of a university.

"The Ukrainian Catholic University exists through the sacrifices of the faithful of our Church," continued the cardinal's letter. "Our fellow Ukrainians in the diaspora, and representatives of other peoples who understand the importance of this institution, provide great support for its activities. Still, above all, we who live in Ukraine should make efforts so that this, our own Catholic institution, has the possibility to develop... [Your donation on Sunday, September 5] will be a great and important contribution on your part for the development of our Church," wrote the cardinal.

Funds are still being counted, but, because of Ukraine's economic situation, the monetary total will be small compared to the university's needs. At this point, however, the university is very pleased with the high response rate of donations.

"Our first donation was from an older lady who brought money to the UCU," reported UCU staff member and graduate Olya Bosak. "She heard an announcement about our fund-raising campaign at her parish liturgy. She gave half of her pension, 80 hrv [about $15]."

Even poor villagers gave their "widow's mite" to show support for the UCU. "There was a flood as a result of heavy rain in the village of Kamianka," said Bosak. "There were 110 parishioners, including children, at the Sunday parish liturgy. And they donated 135 hrv. Usually people are poor in Ukrainian villages: 1 hrv is a lot for them!"

The very fact of this first annual collection is "an important step forward in growing the mentality of giving among Ukrainians," said Volodymyr Turchynovskyi, director of the university's Department of Planning and Development. The UCU "will pioneer in developing university fund-raising models in Europe, where, unlike in the U.S.A., university education receives considerable state funding," said Mr. Turchynovskyi. The recent collection was the first major project of Mr. Turchynovskyi's department at the UCU, which was formed in 2003.

Another goal of the effort was to attract more students to the university. Yurii Korduba of UCU's Records Office traveled to the Ternopil region for the collection. In one parish, people came up to him after the liturgy and asked about entrance requirements. In another parish, in the village of Siltse, Mr. Korduba said, "People asked a lot of questions, and there were some who were hearing about the university for the first time."

Prof. Wills reported statistics from the university's early July entrance exams. Of the 80 students who applied to the department of philosophy and theology, 29 were accepted; of the 85 who applied to the humanities department, 32 were accepted. This is about a 40 percent acceptance rate, "the same as at Notre Dame," added Prof. Wills. About two-thirds of the class is women. (These statistics are for the university's general department in Lviv, where nuns and laypeople study. Statistics for the separate Holy Spirit Seminary campus are not included here.)

The university's Information Office reports that most of the 61 incoming new students are from Halychyna, that is, the Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil regions, though some are from Chernivtsi and even Kherson.

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