Ukrainian Greek Catholic Theological Center Blessed
Lviv — On 28 August 2005, Patriarch Lubomyr Husar, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), together with numerous bishops and clergymen and also representatives of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) blessed the altar of the Holy Spirit Chapel of Holy Spirit Seminary (HSS) and celebrated the first hierarchal Liturgy in the new church. After the Liturgy, the buildings of the seminary and the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), which together form the Theological Center of the UGCC, were blessed.
The opening ceremony began with a procession of students of HSS and UCU from the original building of the Lviv Theological Academy (LTA) in downtown Lviv, which is today part of Ivan Franko National University , past the present building of UCU, to the newly-built center on Khutorivka Street.
In his speech during the Liturgy, Patriarch Lubomyr expressed his gratitude to everyone who helped to construct the building, in particular to the German-based charity organization Aid to the Church in Need, the main sponsor.
Later, the head of the UGCC briefly mentioned the key events connected with the history of the church after it came out of the underground. He noted that during the last 15 years, which is not long, several momentous events took place. Among them was the move of Cardinal Myroslav Lubachivsky to Ukraine, the revival of the LTA, the visit of the Pope of Rome to Ukraine , the foundation of UCU, and the opening of the Theological Center.
According to Patriarch Lubomyr, when looking back on all that we may have a temptation to praise ourselves. "This is not purely our achievement. This is the gift of God. There is no doubt that God used the talents of many people and the building materials. It was God who made it happen," noted the head of the UGCC.
"Today will be remembered in the history of our church as the concluding moment of a certain project, because every beginning should have its end," said Fr. Bohdan Prach, rector of Holy Spirit Seminary. "Our predecessors laid the foundations and we fulfill their dreams: we are moving the seminary to a new place. This is by no means a final point to everything. It is the beginning of the new steps to be made by the generation to come. Life goes on and it sets new goals. For me this day is a moment for new challenges."
The seminarians will start their new academic year in the new buildings. The future of the old buildings of HSS in Rudno, a suburb of Lviv, will be decided by the Metropolitan Synod of the UGCC.
Source: www.ugcc.org.ua
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