On May 9-10 in Lviv the 5th Symposium of Catholic Universities of Central and Eastern Europe will be held. Rectors, vice-rectors and representatives of departments of international academic relations, and also representatives of the clergy will be received by the Ukrainian Catholic University, which is a member of the Association of Catholic Universities of Central and Eastern Europe.

The identity and role of Catholic universities, the place of Catholic universities in the reformation of the system of higher education in the region, the combination of spirituality and education, and the secular world and forming a Christian world-view are questions will be discussed over two days by the heads of Catholic universities of Central and Eastern Europe. Also present at the symposium will be Papal Nuncio to Ukraine Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic and Bishop Hlib (Lonchyna).

"The Ukrainian Catholic University is chronologically the youngest member of this association. However, our weight in the intellectual life of Lviv and Ukraine is already acknowledged well enough, and we were able to become members of this association,” noted the head of the Department of International Academic Relations of the university, Olena Dzhedzhora. “We hope that our partners not only will become better acquainted with our work and projects but also that we will be able to arrange a valuable and productive exchange of students and will create joint educational and scholarly projects.”

The Association of Catholic Universities of Central and Eastern Europe is unique in many aspects. In fact it covers an enormous region in which there are very few Catholic universities. To the association belongs the Budapest University of Pazmani (Hungary), Catholic University of Lublin (Poland), and the Catholic University in Ruzemborok (Slovakia). The promoter of the joining of these universities was the Institute of European Studies of the Catholic University of Notre Dame (USA). The association is quite young: it was created in 2005. Annually it conducts meetings to enable all members of the organization to get to know better the universities and circumstances of concrete countries.

Department of Information and External Relations of UCU