Bishop Borys Gudziak to talk on the Hardship of Hybrid War and the Challenges of Authentic Peace
Ukrainian Institute in London is delighted to invite everyone to a talk: “The Hybrid War and the Challenges of Authentic Peace”– by Bishop Borys Gudziak, President of the Ukrainian Catholic University, which will take place on Monday, October 13th, 7.00PM at the Ukrainian Institute in London. Bishop Borys, a prominent public authority in Ukraine, will share his insight and thoughts on the reasons, impact and consequences of the war taking place in Ukraine.
Bishop Borys Gudziak, Ph.D., President of the Ukrainian Catholic University, is a leading intellectual and historian globally recognised for his scholarly achievements and pastoral inspiration. Through his words and deeds, he has helped make the Ukrainian Catholic University a exemplary educational institution, which teaches democratic principles and models ethics and morality to the future leaders of Ukraine while exploring the broader theme of the place of Christian spirituality in a post-modern world.
Gudziak was born in 1960 in Syracuse, New York, the son of immigrants from Ukraine. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and biology from Syracuse University in 1980 and then studied in Rome, in the circle of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj. He received a degree in theology from Urbaniana University in 1983 and then returned to America to pursue a doctorate in Slavic and Byzantine Cultural History at Harvard University, which he successfully defended in 1992.
In 1992, he moved to Lviv where he founded and directed (1992-2002) the Institute of Church History. In 1993 he was appointed Chairman of the Commission for the Renewal of the Lviv Theological Academy. From 1995 until 2000 he served as Vice Rector of the Lviv Theological Academy, then as Rector from 2000 to 2002. In that year, Gudziak became Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University (founded on the basis of the Academy), and in 2013 its President.
In May 2011, he was visited by the Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) which instructed him to prevent his students from protests against the Yanukovych government. He refused, maintaining that “speaking and writing openly about these issues is the most peaceful and effective manner of counteracting efforts to secretly control and intimidate students and citizens.”
He speaks English, Ukrainian, Italian, Polish, German, French and Russian and has a working knowledge of Latin and Greek. Bishop Gudziak is the author of a number of scholarly works, among them a doctoral dissertation Crisis and Reform: The Kyivan Metropolitanate, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the Genesis of the Union of Brest (1998), as well as articles in European and North American academic journals. He has penned articles in popular magazines, newspapers, commentary on political, cultural and religious affairs, position papers on academic curricula and educational reform, and introductions to scholarly publications.
In 2012 he was appointed Bishop for Ukrainian Catholics in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg and Switzerland and presently is based in Paris.
Bishop Borys was an active supporter of the 2013/14 Euromaidan movement for dignity and appeared regularly on leading global TV channels and media with expert commentary.
The talk will be held in English. All Welcome.
Admission is free, but please register at events@ukrainianinstitute.
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Information from Ukrainian Institute page.