Theology and Philosophy Faculty's Cornerstone Blessing
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Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, O.P., president of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference and archbishop of Vienna, blessed the cornerstone for the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) on 1 September 2003.
Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and Roman Catholic Cardinal Marian Jaworski of Lviv also participated in the ceremony “Cardinal Christoph Schonborn,” affirms Cardinal Husar, “is very interested in the status of higher theological education in Ukraine. He himself is a noted theologian and so, with his own eyes he wants to see how institutions of theological education are developing in our country.”
All those present for the ceremony, including Fr. Borys Gudziak, rector of UCU, and Fr. Bohdan Prakh, rector of Holy Spirit Seminary, signed a certificate commemorating the event.
“In the person of Cardinal Schonborn are united a profound knowledge of the theology of the patristic period and the experience of analyzing and living through contemporary spiritual challenges,” said Fr. Borys Gudziak, rector of UCU. “When the Catholic Church stood in need of preparing the new catechism for publication, Pope John Paul II named Cardinal Schonborn the general editor. About half a year ago, this fundamental work, which has significance for every Catholic, also came out in a Ukrainian translation. For us Eastern Christians, it’s interesting that Cardinal Schonborn, the general editor of the Catholic Catechism, a theologian of the Western tradition, is close to the Eastern perspective of theologizing. His book on the history of the early Eastern Christian theology of images-icons confirms this,” noted Fr. Gudziak.
After the ceremony on 1 September, Cardinal Schonborn delivered a talk to students and teachers of UCU on “The Significance of the Fathers of the Church for Modern Theology.”
