Sung prayer for Ukraine

In the Church of the Holy Eucharist, as a part of the ESW an evening of choral spiritual singing "Prayer for Ukraine" took place on October 2. The choristers performed traditional hymns in new arrangements and folk songs.

The presenters of the spiritual concert, Anastasia Voytyuk and Dmytro Bartkovo, introduced the choirs and their programs. The chamber choir of the Church of the Holy Eucharist SOLI DEO was the first to perform. They sang "Our Father" and "Hail Mary." When the chorus performed the song "The duck sails on Tysa river," everyone rose and paid
tribute to fallen heroes. The choir Eterija, choir of the Lviv Regional Stavropigion Brotherhood of St. Andrew STAVROS, and the liturgical choir of the Armenian Cathedral in Lviv, SAHMOS, also presented their programs during the evening of spiritual singing. The evening "Prayer for Ukraine" ended with a joint performance of the song "God alone is great."

Social responsibility in overcoming social crises

The round table "The Social Responsibility of a Sociologist and Social Worker as a Sign of Professionalism" was held on October 2 during the 7th ESW. According to Ruslan Savchynsky, with a Candidate’s degree in Social Sciences, the main task of any social institution is to satisfy the needs of society. Sociology in this issue is no exception. "The
professional modern sociologist is a person who not only transmits information, but provides the information with which society can make decisions," Ruslan Savchynsky noted.

Larysa Klymanska, Doctor of Social Sciences, Head of the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Lviv Polytechnic National University, marked the problems of modern Ukraine and emphasized the special weight of the word in crisis situations. Iryna Kurlyak, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Head of the General and Social Pedagogy Department at UCU, addressed the problem of coming out of life crises that an individual faces. 

A specialist in training social workers, Nina Hayduk (Lviv Polytechnic), shared her vision of conflict resolution. "Understanding is possible only through mediation. The basic principles of dialogue should be respect and recognition of each individual," she said.

Seminar of the Ukrainian Christian Academic Society (UCAS) "Memory, History, Identity" held

On October 2, as part of the 7th ESW, a seminar of the Ukrainian Christian Academic Society, "Memory, History, Identity," was held. The event was moderated by Taras Dmytryk, Executive Secretary of the UCAS and Head of the Lviv Stauropegion Brotherhood of St. Andrew UAOC, and Dr. Antoine Arjakovsky, the Founding Director of the Institute of Ecumenical Studies at UCU and now Research Director of Bernadine College,.

Archbishop Ihor (Isichenko), Archbishop of the Kharkiv-Poltava Eparchy of the UAOC, spoke about religious myths which are used by Russian ideologues in the information war against Ukraine and outlined fighting tactics against the separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Fr. Mykhailo Dymyd in his report "From the Union of Hearts to a Joint Eucharist" compared the Maidan with one of the most important Christian sacraments, holy Communion. He claims that the revolution was effective thanks to sincere prayer and unity of intent.

Archbishop Yevstratiy (Zoria), Archbishop of Chernihiv and Nizhyn, UOC-KP, drew attention to the crisis in traditional family values. And Father Ihor Shaban, head of the UGCC for Promoting Christian Unity, spoke about common baptism and expressed hope that this meeting would be a good basis for future interfaith dialogue.

Antoine Arjakovsky’s book "Waiting for a Pan-Orthodox Council: Volume II" presented

On October 2, a book by IES’s Founding Director, Antoine Arjakovsky, "Waiting for a Pan-Orthodox Council. Volume II," was presented at UCU. The publication of the book was praised by Taras Kurylets, doctoral student at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas; Andriy Yurash, religious expert, Associate Professor at Ivan Franko University; Oleksandr Sahan, Ph.D., Professor at the G.Skovoroda Institute of Philosophy; and Vitaliy Khromets, Associate Professor of the Cultural Studies Department, M.P. Drahomanov National Pedagogical University.

Taras Kurylets spoke about the importance of the book and the difficulties associated with its publication: "The book is written in language at a highly scholarly level, which is why there were difficulties in translation, in particular, theological terms. It raises a huge range of issues on relevant problems, from social and religious to philosophical."
"The author not only states the facts but provides advice to people who are working on assembling a council," Oleksandr Sahan said. "This is a stimulus to thought. This is theology, church ideology that makes us seek peace
with ourselves and the outside world," Andriy Yurash says. Vitaliy Khromets noted the importance of the book: "Its idea will inspire inter-Christian dialogue and theological studies in Ukraine."

Civic responsibility and role of the Church

On October 2, as part of the 7th ESW the round table "Civil Liability in Times of Social Transformation" was held. The round table focused on the responsibility of politicians, the role of the Church in times of crisis, the influence of the civil sector, and cooperation between the Church and the military. Professor Antonina Kolodii, Ph.D., head of the Department of Political Science and Philosophy of the Lviv Regional Institute of Public Administration of the National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine, affirmed that the Maidan in 2014 disproved the idea that Ukraine has a weak civil society, that Ukrainians are passive and detached.

Zenoviy Svereda, Doctor of Social Economics, lecturer at the Pontifical Gregorian University, talked about what crisis" means, the concept of "the state" and its main tasks, and the Church and its social mission.

Mychailo Cherenkov, Ph.D., professor of philosophy at UCU, associate editor of "Theological Portal," the portal Religion in Ukraine," and the magazine "Theological Reflections," drew attention to the uniting of Christians due to difficult times.

Father Stepan Sus, pastor of the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, encouraged attempts to unite people around common values, to build the society that we want to see in our nation with one’s own efforts.