Metropolitan Borys Gudziak and a Delegation from the Philadelphia Archeparchy Begin Their Solidarity Visit to Ukraine
Metropolitan Borys Gudziak of Philadelphia has begun a pastoral solidarity visit to the eparchies of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine. He is accompanied by a small delegation: Bishop Hlib Lonchyna, Bishop Emeritus of the UGCC; Fr. Mark Fesniak, dean of the South Anthracite Deanery of the Philadelphia Archeparchy; Andrea Kochan Neagle; Gina Christian; and Sofia Zacharczuk.
Metropolitan Borys explains that the purpose of the visit is to better understand how people in Ukraine are living after nearly five years of unjust Russian aggression, to express solidarity with them, and to learn more about the charitable work of various Church structures, drawing inspiration from their resilience and dedication.
The visit began in Chernivtsi, where the delegation was welcomed by Bishop Yosafat Moshchych, Eparch of Chernivtsi, and his team, including Tetiana Pankiv, director of Caritas of the eparchy and graduate of the St. Gabriel Institute.
At the start of their time in Chernivtsi, the delegation also visited the apartment-museum of Ukrainian composer Volodymyr Ivasiuk.
Meeting at Chernivtsi National University
On August 11, the delegation visited Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, where they met with Rector Ruslan Biloskurskyi. Also taking part in the meeting were Iryna Osovska, vice-rector for academic and international affairs; Yurii Khalavka, vice-rector for research; and Oksana Matiichuk, deputy head of the international relations office.
Participants discussed how the educational process at Ukrainian universities has changed since the start of the full-scale invasion, drawing on the experience of Chernivtsi National University and the Ukrainian Catholic University. Particular attention was given to work with veterans and internally displaced persons. According to university leadership, this is one of the institution’s priorities. The university’s dormitories have housed roughly 300 internally displaced people since the start of the war, though space remains scarce, since approximately 2/3 of the student body comes from outside Chernivtsi. One question participants raised was how to keep young people in Ukraine, and how to help them see a future here.
A separate conversation focused on the formation of theology students.
Rector Biloskurskyi noted that student life at the university extends well beyond academics: students organize their own initiatives, including charity fundraisers.
The university runs a Veterans Development Center, which supports veterans’ social reintegration, including those who have returned with amputations. Much of that work happens through the arts — exhibitions, theater, workshops. As university staff put it, this isn’t a separate strategy but a daily practice. A hundred university employees are currently serving in the war; an online Book of Memory honors those who have died in service.
Caritas of the Chernivtsi Eparchy
The delegation visited the Inclusive Café run by Caritas of the Chernivtsi Eparchy, a social enterprise supported in part by the Philadelphia Metropolia’s Healing of the Wounds of War in Ukraine Fund. Guests met the young people with disabilities who work there: barista Yaroslav and volunteer Liza, who assists him.
Bishop Hlib Lonchyna led a Divine Liturgy at the Chapel in the Caritas Office. The delegation also met with the Caritas team, who spoke not only about the organization’s projects and initiatives but about their own experiences of the war — among the staff are internally displaced people and those who have lost family members.
The first day of the solidarity tour ended with a visit to the eparchy’s “Eco-Farm”. The delegation visited the “Kozynyi Dvir” (Goat Yard) outside Chernivtsi, a social enterprise of the Chernivtsi Eparchy that produces craft cheeses from goat’s and cow’s milk and also serves as a venue for eparchial events, including a children’s camp which was on-going.
On August 12, Metropolitan Borys led a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chernivtsi.
Medical University
The delegation visited Bukovinian State Medical University, where they were welcomed by Volodymyr Khodorovskyi, vice-rector for academic affairs, and Oksana Hodovanets, vice-rector for academic affairs and international relations. They toured the university’s simulation center, seeing its practice-based approach to medical education: training on mannequins built to closely replicate real clinical situations, including simulators for dental students. The bishops were shown, and had explained to them, how to properly apply a tourniquet.
The solidarity visit will continue through August 15, with the delegation set to visit eparchies and Church structures in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Khmelnytskyi, Ostroh, and Lutsk.
