A Moment of Encounter: Winter Graduation Ceremonies at UCU

On February 7, winter graduation ceremonies were held at Ukrainian Catholic University for master’s students in the following programs: Nonprofit Management (Institute of Leadership and Management), Journalism and Media Communications (School of Journalism and Communications), Law (Faculty of Law), Clinical Psychology with the Basics of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (Faculty of Health Sciences), and Christian Pedagogy and Leisure Organization (Faculty of Philosophy and Theology). Nearly one hundred former students joined the UCU alumni community.

The hierarchical Divine Liturgy was led by Bishop Hlib Lonchyna. Addressing the graduates, he noted that for them this day is a moment of encounter.

“You are meeting Jesus Christ. You waited a long time for this moment of completion, worked hard, spent many sleepless nights studying. And today is this day of completion, when you begin a new life in order to carry the knowledge you have gained out into the world,” the bishop emphasized.

Winter graduation ceremonies at UCU

Bishop Hlib stressed: “It is important to remember the moment of the encounter, the moment of meeting Jesus Christ. With Christ you will carry these words, this learning, this help to people, and by His Spirit you will inspire the world. This is a great task, a calling, a mission that rests on your shoulders.”

Bishop Hlib Lonchyna

The UCU community had the honor of welcoming Fr. Mykhailo Plotsidym, who recently became rector of Holy Spirit Seminary in Lviv. UCU Vice President Fr. Bohdan Prach congratulated the new rector and thanked Fr. Ihor Boiko for his many years of service in that position. “We thank God that at this time He allowed us to be together and to study thanks to our defenders and volunteers,” Fr. Bohdan added.

Senior Vice-Rector of UCU Yaroslav Prytula delivered a speech on behalf of Rector Taras Dobko. In the address, he reminded everyone that on February 17 we will mark the 134th anniversary of the birth of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj. For his coat of arms, he chose the motto “Through hardships to the stars” (Per aspera ad astra). UCU was one of Patriarch Josyf’s stars.

Winter graduation ceremonies at UCU

Addressing the graduates, Taras Dobko suggested that for each of them their studies were, in a sense, a journey through hardships to the stars:

“In some ways you had to revise your view of the world, break spears in sharpening your own arguments, sweat over new knowledge, and rub blisters while acquiring new skills. Each of you has your own stars that give light and warmth even on the darkest and coldest night. And probably each of you feels that your stars make sense only in the constellation of a free and dignified Ukraine.”

He emphasized that for the UCU community, the graduates are also stars. “Do not tire of courageously crying out to God, do not stop running after true good. We remember the example of Patriarch Josyf, the example of service by our friends and relatives at the front and in the rear. Godspeed — through hardships to the stars.”

Winter graduation ceremonies at UCU

Yaroslav Prytula personally thanked the teachers for their patience and instruction, the staff for their daily work, and the graduates for being present and reaching the moment of receiving their diplomas.

“Become adults! Adults are not those who always have the right answers, but those who are searching. Doubt, but do not be silent! There will be moments when the thought arises that you are not yet ready for something. This is normal. Adults are not those who know everything, but those who know that besides them, no one else will do it,” Yaroslav Prytula said. Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey

He also introduced the commencement speaker — Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey, a Reuters war correspondent and recipient of the Georgiy Gongadze Prize. Since 2005, Ivan has worked actively as a cameraman. He filmed the events of the Revolution of Dignity and later documented Russia’s occupation of Crimea. In August 2014, he documented the fighting near Ilovaisk, which resulted in the documentary film “Bloody War in Ukraine – Escape from Ilovaisk,” which received the annual German Deutscher Kamerapreis award in the category “Best News Report from a War Zone.”

Winter graduation ceremonies

In August 2024, he documented the evacuation from Pokrovsk with the Reuters team, after which the team returned to Kramatorsk. On the night of August 24, the Russian army struck the hotel where the correspondents were staying with a high-precision ballistic missile. As a result of the strike, Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey suffered a severe head injury. He is now working daily on his recovery in order to return to work and continue documenting Russian aggression.

“This is a person who proved that professionalism without values is worthless, and that true courage is to carry light when it is being extinguished,” Yaroslav Prytula said about Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey.

Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey

The honorary speaker thanked the university for the opportunity to attend the UCU graduation ceremony. He shared that for the last 12 years he has worked mainly as a war correspondent.

“I saw how Russian soldiers appeared in Crimea, how Russian soldiers shot Ukrainian soldiers near Debaltseve. I filmed the defense of Kyiv in 2022, the evacuation of people from Irpin. I have seen and experienced a great deal,” Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey shared.

He emphasized that Russia is trying to kill our memory, impose its own vision of history and interpretation of current events, and generally convince the world that the Ukrainian nation does not exist. To do this, the enemy uses various methods: information influence, manipulation, financing anti-Ukrainian movements abroad, burning Ukrainian books in occupied territories, and abducting children. Another method is the physical destruction of people who document war crimes.

“Many of my colleagues died defending Ukraine in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Even while serving as soldiers, they tried to document everything. For Russians, we are all targets, especially those wearing body armor marked ‘Press.’ Because our work is important here and now. How our contemporaries see this war and how future generations will interpret it depends on us,” the honorary speaker stressed, adding:

“Testimony, service, and communication fill the gaps in memory about the war, allow truth and justice to be restored. It is important to spread and document the truth about this war, and also to nurture community, to be in solidarity, and to defend values. Many challenges stand before us — from professional to existential. We must unite our efforts in order to survive and not lose our memory as a community, as a nation.”

Winter graduation ceremonies

Speaking about his work, Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey emphasized that it is his vocation:

“When I came out of a coma, the first thing I asked was when they would buy me a new camera. I would never in my life trade my profession for another. What I do is the meaning of my life.”

Following the practices of well-known universities, the final address on behalf of the graduating master’s students was delivered by the valedictorian.

The Valedictorian of the UCU Winter Graduation 2026 was Olena Levandovska — a graduate of the Master’s Program in Nonprofit Management at the UCU Institute of Leadership and Management, a journalist, communications specialist, and civic activist; co-founder and head of the NGO UMIND, and CEO of the communications agency Sensy buro.

Olena Levandovska, valedictorian of the graduation ceremony

Olena Levandovska emphasized that it was a great honor for her to speak on behalf of the graduates of 2026.

“A year and a half ago, I came to these long-awaited walls for a second degree. But to be honest, I came here in search of a confirmation of faith — faith in meaning, in values, in people, and in the indomitable power of communication. And today, together with the official confirmation of my academic achievements, I received an unofficial confirmation of my faith: faith that communication is not just a skill or a tool. It is a way to live, to create, and to multiply,” Olena Levandovska emphasized.

She shared that for her, UCU is a stronghold of faith in the power of communication.

“These walls and these people are fundamental proof that communication is the foundation of communities, institutions, and the country. That true communication is always linked with bearing witness to truth, dignity, and values, and always with service to others, to the common good, and to the future,” she stressed.

The valedictorian noted that communication had always been her strong competence. And it was precisely at UCU that she realized it is not only a gift, but also a responsibility — as a manager, journalist, leader, and mother. She thanked the teachers for their responsibility and trust, the community for warmth and support, and the university for tectonic transformations and for communication that gives life.

Kateryna Akhynko, a 2025 graduate of the Applied Sciences Faculty, addressed those present on behalf of the UCU Alumni Association.

Kateryna Akhynko

“UCU is not only a place of study, but also a community of people who know how to be close to one another. UCU not only trains specialists, but also people who shape society and are able to take responsibility wherever they may be. I sincerely hope that for each of you the university became a home, and regardless of where you live and work in the future, you will be able to find this sense of home within yourselves, in other people, and in the communities you create.”

She wished the graduates courage in seeking their path and patience with themselves in that search.