Build 'a culture that gives life,' says U.S. Ukrainian Catholic archbishop

By Gina Christian, OSV News

LVIV, Ukraine (OSV News) -- As Russia seeks to destroy Ukraine through a full-scale invasion, Ukrainians -- and the West itself -- must commit to building "a culture that gives life," said Metropolitan Archbishop Borys Gudziak, head of Ukrainian Catholics in the U.S.

The archbishop shared his thoughts during a June 25 panel discussion at Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine, of which he is the founder and president.

Joining Archbishop Gudziak for "Culture as an Element of National Security" were Ukrainian businesswoman and philanthropist Iryna Ivanchyk, poet and publisher Ivan Malkovych, and poet and journalist Mariia Tytarenko.

The topic of the panel discussion has been a central one for Ukraine over the past decade as it has battled aggression by Russia, which began its attacks on Ukraine in 2014 with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the fomenting of separatist activities in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Since Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion, investigators have documented at least 80,000 atrocities, while UNESCO has verified damage by Russia to 260 cultural sites in Ukraine, including churches, museums and libraries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly asserted that Ukraine has neither a culture nor a nationhood of its own, claiming instead that Ukrainians are merely part of Russian culture -- even as many formerly bilingual Ukrainians have renounced the Russian language. Russian state propagandists have reinforced Putin's claim by relentlessly denigrating Ukrainian cultural heritage and identity.

"Putin wants to get into our minds," said Archbishop Gudziak. "He wants to control us and detach us one from the other."

Restoring human bonds is essential to creating a vibrant culture, he said.

"It's important not to see news (continuously) but to look into each other's eyes -- husbands, wives, children," said the archbishop. "Spend a day without screens, with no messages."

A thriving culture must be "one in which morals are included," and which steers clear of "deconstruction and irony that lead to cynicism."

Culture also must reckon honestly with the reality of death, said the archbishop.

"Western culture can't deal with death," he said. "Kids can't take part in funerals … because it traumatizes them. Before, we literally had kids around (the deceased), and that was OK because there was trust in eternity. We need to start coming back to that. God's wisdom really does help us to live in hope for eternity. If we look at death this way, we live differently."

That perspective naturally inspires flourishing culture, he said, citing the new mosaics being installed in the campus chapel at the university, which are "Byzantine, but still uniquely Ukrainian."

"It is a miracle to be able to see these finished in a time of war," he said, adding the mosaics proclaim, "Here is life, the kingdom of God, beauty. And there is hope."