Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) has been ordained a bishop

His Beatitude Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) presided over Father Borys Gudziak’s ordination as a bishop that was held in the archiepiscopal St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv. The bishop nominee made a confession of faith, stating his adherence to the doctrinal truths of the Church. The congregation then heard the papal commission with which Pope Benedict XVI had appointed Father Gudziak titular Bishop of Carcabia and Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainian Catholics in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Switzerland on July 21, 2012.

Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) invested the newly elected Bishop with a miter and a crosier. “The ordination of Father Borys is happening at an interesting time, when we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Servant of God Patriarch Josyf Slipyj’s mortal remains’ return to the St. George’s Cathedral,” His Beatitude said in his welcoming remarks and thanked Bishop Borys for his tireless work in Ukraine: “The UCU will forever bear your mark. Letting you go to France, we know that you will not abandon us, that is, the Church in Ukraine and our Catholic University.”

The consecration and solemn liturgy were attended by the Papal Nuncio in Ukraine Edward Thomas Gullickson; Metropolitan Archbishop of Lviv Ihor (Vozniak); Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainian Catholics in Great Britain and Apostolic Visitor for Ukrainian Catholics in Ireland Bishop Hlib (Lonchyna); bishops of the UGCC from Ukraine and from abroad; Roman Catholic bishops – Bishop Ordinary of Kharkiv and Zaporizhia Marian Buczek and Bishop Ordinary of Kamianets-Podilsky Leon Dubrawski; priests of the Apostolic Exarchate for Ukrainian Catholics in France, Switzerland and the Benelux; diplomats – ambassadors of the United States, Austria, Poland, the Kingdom of Denmark, Georgia, and Armenia; representatives of the UCU donors and foundations, its lecturers and students; and representatives of various Christian denominations, including the Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan of Lviv (Kyiv Patriarchate) Demetrius (Rudiuk).

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Bishop Gudziak was born in the United States in 1960, the son of immigrants from Lviv. He was educated in the Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY) and in the Pontifical Urbaniana University and Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. He arrived in Lviv in 1992 to establish and head the Institute of Church History and became the first rector of the UCU in 2002. He authored numerous studies and articles on the church history, theological education and various social and cultural topics.