“You are truly receiving your diplomas on time, because there are no more adults around. From now on, we are the adults.” Pavlo Kazarin, Ukrainian journalist, Sergeant Major of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to UCU’s graduates

Graduation ceremony 2025

On June 14, bachelor’s and master’s students received their degrees at Ukrainian Catholic University. This summer, almost 600 joined the UCU alumni community from the following programs: Theology; Artes Liberales: History; Artes Liberales: Culture Studies; Artes Liberales: Philology; The Future of Heritage: History, Culture, Literature; Computer Studies; IT and Business Analytics; Data Sciences; Ethics.Politics.Economics; Sociology; Law; Public Administration; Psychology; Social Work; Clinical Psychology based on Psychodynamic Therapy; Clinical Psychology based on Cognitive- Behavioral Therapy; and Physical Therapy.

Graduates of master’s programs of the UCU Business School also received diplomas: MBA, MSc in Innovations and Entrepreneurship, MSc in Technology Management, and MSc in Marketing Management.

The graduation ceremony began with prayer and the Divine Liturgy, which was presided at by UGCC Archbishop and Metropolitan of Ternopil-Zboriv Teodor Martynyuk.

Archbishop Teodor Martynyuk

 

The archbishop called on the graduates to respond to the invitation of Jesus to dialogue with Him about love: “Don’t look for simple formulas, answers like ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ With the Lord, enter into an atmosphere with growing love, together with relatives, parents, friends, and future co-workers. You will be able to do this because you have values in your heart. Hold on to them, preach them with your lives. UCU has put into your hearts the most valuable thing, values which the university lives out. This is more than knowledge and experience. These are treasures! One of the treasures is the atmosphere of love,” admitted the archbishop.

The hosts of the festive graduation ceremony were Daryna Kolmyk and Ivan Shydlovskyi.

UCU Rector Taras Dobko emphasized that graduation is the most important day in the life of a university. “This is the day of the great UCU community – graduates, students, parents, families, professors. We are creating an environment that allows young people to grow and become professionals in their fields.”

The rector thanked the graduates for their contribution to carrying out the university’s mission: “I hope that you leave the walls of UCU enriched and prepared, stronger and wiser, wiser in the ability not only to do good deeds but also to lead a good life. Against the background of the trials of war, things stand out which are truly important in life and which we are used to taking for granted. We understand in a new way the value of freedom and democracy, the value of Ukrainian culture, subjectivity, agency, and human relationships. Important things demand patience and knowing how to wait. Important things demand solidarity. UCU arose thanks to the solidarity of many people’s generosity and depends on the demonstration of your active solidarity. Ask God for wisdom and strength in your lives, in your families, in relations with people. May God’s peace be in your hearts, God’s wisdom in your thoughts, and, in your hands, God’s strength to do good.”

The honorary commencement speaker was Pavlo Kazarin, Ukrainian journalist, publicist, radio and television host, and Sergeant Major of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He mentioned that exactly 20 years ago he was in the place of today’s UCU graduates – he received a diploma from V. I. Vernadskyi National University in Taurida.

Pavlo Kazarin, army officer, journalist, honorary commencement speaker in 2025

 

“At that time, it seemed that all the rules were set, everything had already happened, empires had fallen, independence already achieved, and that wars were finished. And then, in 2005, it was easy for me to believe that history had gotten on track. At that time, our country was seen as something that others protected: Those who had built it were people with banknotes. I was convinced that the fate of my generation was to dust monuments and pedestals. But I was very mistaken. It turned out that it was our generation that was fated to live in a dramatic period in the history of our country, whose future would depend on our decisions or our inactivity. It turned out that independence is a theorem which we have to prove every day. Look, we are now proving it for the 11th year in a row,” stated Pavlo Kazarin.

Father Ihor Boyko, Rector of Holy Spirit Seminary in Lviv, called the graduates to express their gratitude to those people who helped them go forward, not to lose hope. “For it is the support of family and friends that gave the opportunity and possibility to complete your studies. I hope that you will allow God to surprise you. Love the place where you are, your work, your service, where the Lord puts you. Don’t wait to love.”

Then the salutatorian spoke for the bachelor’s students and the valedictorian for the master’s students: Anna-Tereza Zherebetska, graduate of the Bachelor’s Program in Theology, and Tymur Abdulin, a veteran, graduate of the Master’s Program in Public Administration of UCU’s School of Public Administration.

Tymur Abdulin, a veteran, graduate of the Master’s Program in Public Administration of UCU’s School of Public Administration.

“Yesterday I drove in my car from Kyiv to Lviv and decided to take people with me from the BlaBlaCar service. I first heard from a guy who wanted to travel from Zhytomyr: ‘I have a prosthesis,’ he texted me. I was confused and asked why he was writing about his prosthesis. His response struck me. He said there were instances when people refused him because of this. And so, my main message to the community: Create good conditions for veterans wherever you are, because it was veterans who created the conditions for you to exist! I will continue to defend my homeland and serve the Ukrainian people and do everything so that Muscovy is defeated. I know I’m not alone in this work. We have each other – a large community of the like-minded, those who dream big, who are creating today’s Ukraine and will create tomorrow’s,” stated Tymur Abdulin, who is now project manager in the Brave1 cluster of defense technologies and advisor to the director of the State Employment Service for Veterans’ Policy.

Anna-Tereza Zherebetska, graduate of the Bachelor’s Program in Theology of the UCU Faculty of Theology and Philosophy

 

Anna-Tereza Zherebetska encouraged everyone to be grateful: “Today we thank those who demonstrated their love to us: professors who didn’t let us give up; benefactors who supported and trusted us. I thank our families and friends who all this time were close by and didn’t let us lose heart. Thank whoever is now close by, because these people are witnesses of your internal struggle and growth. They are part of your history, because a real community is about common paths and hopes which make us capable of holding on and moving forward. I thank the university, which brought us together. And I thank the heroes who hold up the sky so that we can stand here now,” stated the graduate, who is now project manager in the UCU Development Department, in particular for the scholarship fund DoNatsia, encouraging the development of the university and support of students.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi also greeted the graduates. Then diplomas were presented by faculty.

The ceremony concluded with the symbolic tossing of caps and singing the traditional student song “Gaudeamus.”