The Institute of Ecumenical Studies of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) on January 17 conducted its first Ukrainian-language master’s-degree defense for its distance-learning program. Iryna Khomyn wrote on “The Church Union Ideas of Yosyf Veliamyn Rutskyi and Petro Mohyla and their Development Today in the Understanding of Patriarch Lubomyr Husar.”

Khomyn is an engineer by training who works at the Ukrtelekom company. In her dissertation she explored issues of church unity in the 17th century and the thought of Catholic and Orthodox hierarchs and the pastoral activities of Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, patriarch emeritus of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

The head of the commission, Dr. Oleh Turij, UCU’s vice rector for research, said: “Inasmuch as the student mastered the basics of theology, ecclesiology, and historical studies without a basic humanities education, we had an additional argument for giving the work an assessment of ‘outstanding.’”