Buildings




				The Church of the Holy Spirit and the building of the Greek Catholic Seminary of the Holy Spirit, under the administration of Fr. Dr. Josyf Slipyj renamed the Ukrainian Theological Academy. The dawn of the Ukrainian Catholic University.




	The Iconostasis of the Holy Spirit Church of the seminary in Lviv. The seminary chapel, painted by Petro Kholodnyi and consecrated in 1929 by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky.

Left:		The chapel of the Archeparchial Seminary of the Holy Spirit in Lviv

Right:		The Archeparchial Seminary of the Holy Spirit in Lviv




	The chapel of the Lviv Theological Academy




				The building of the Lviv Theological Academy on Sventsitskoho St. 17. The LTA resumed activity in 1994.




				St. Sophia Church in Rome and the building of the Ukrainian Catholic University of Pope St. Clement I, founded by Cardinal Josyf Slipyj




				The Ukrainian Catholic University was built from 1964 to 1966. The building was consecrated on 2 October 1966 and contained a prayer room, a library, an archive, a museum and classrooms. The construction of St. Sophia Church started in 1967 and finished in June 1969.




				Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, apostolic nuncio in Ukraine, looks on the site of the future Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv.

In 1783, the Greek Catholic General Theological Seminary occupied the premises of the former Dominican monastery. It comprised a number of houses, situated on what was then the Halytskyi suburb across the Jesuit gates between Shyroka (later Kopernyka), Sykutska and Slovatskoho streets. Subsequently, the old houses were demolished, except for the Roman Catholic church with a tower, the interior of which was rebuilt in accordance with the requirements of the Eastern rite.

In 1887, the central post office and the two-story building of the theological seminary were built on the site of the demolished houses. The rectangular seminary building stretched from Kopernyka St. 36 to the central post office and Sykutska St. 39. After World War I, half of the premises belonged to the theological seminary and the other half to the gymnasium of the minor seminary.

From 1934 to 1939, when there were more than 360 students, the seminary administration had to rent additional houses on Valova St. 4 and Slovatskoho St. 21 to provide students with housing. As the Theological Academy was expanding, 4 lecture halls, a library under the tower, and a study lounge were furnished. The artist Kovzhun painted the largest lecture hall for concerts, performances, and other festive occasions. A cafeteria for 300 people was situated in the garden on Sykutska St. A statue of the Mother of God stood in front of the stone garden walls, and a monument to Metropolitan Andrey, founder of the Theological Academy, was erected under the arches.

There were two sacred places in the buildings of the Theological Seminary: the Church of the Holy Spirit, with access for all the faithful, and the chapel for seminary students and staff only.

The Church of the Holy Spirit (a former Roman Catholic church) with a baroque style tower was built at the beginning of the 18th century. The Roman Catholic church remained intact when the building of the Dominican monastery was reconstructed. It is only known that an iconostasis and pulpit were added. The main entrance to the church was from Kopernyka St., and there were also back entrances from corridors directly into the gallery, from the ground floor and from the pit. It is worth mentioning that the Church of the Holy Spirit was home to a number of valuable historic items from the Maniavskyi Skete (hermitage).

Understanding the great educational influence that the interior environment has on students, Father Doctor Josyf Slipyj, rector of the academy, decided to have the chapel of the academy painted according to traditions of Ukrainian iconography. This assignment was entrusted to a talented artist, Petro Kholodnyi, who finished it in two years, using tempera.

On 15 September 1939, the Church of the Holy Spirit, the library of the Theological Academy, and the Theological Academic Society were destroyed by a German bomb. Due to the efforts of the administration, the building was restored. It was impossible, however, to rebuild the church because of ongoing military operations. All that remains are reconstruction plans designed by the winners of a 1942 contest for the best plan to rebuild the church. The first prize was given to Yevhen Nahirnyi.

The Sobor (Assembly) in 1946 marked the beginning of the brutal liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church. During Soviet times, the academy buildings were given to Ivan Franko University and are currently occupied by the geography department.

In 1963, after 18 years of exile, Josyf Slipyj, head of the UGCC, went to Rome. One of his first decrees dealt with the foundation of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Rome. It was established because Greek Catholic emigrants needed theological education and an institution where both research and instruction could occur. The Ukrainian Catholic University of Pope St. Clement I in Rome was built from 1964 to 1966. The complex occupied an area of more than 10.000 square meters and consisted of 2 prayer rooms, a museum, a library, a cafeteria, 4 lecture halls and comfortable living quarters for teachers and students. The Basilian nuns who helped with maintenance of the premises lived in a separate building. Due to the efforts Cardinal Josyf Slipyj, the Church of St. Sophia was built on the territory of the university, designed on the basis of the construction plan of the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kyiv (1967 – 1969).

In 1991, when the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was coming out of the underground, the activity of the seminary resumed with the blessing of Metropolitan Volodymyr Sterniuk. Unfortunately, restitution of the historic buildings of the seminary in Lviv was impossible, so Myroslav Ivan Cardinal Lubachivsky blessed the new location for the Theological Seminary in the village of Rudno near Lviv. In order to create acceptable conditions for living and studying, the seminarians had to renovate the dilapidated premises of the former Pioneer summer camp by themselves.

In September 1994, the Theological Academy resumed its activity in Lviv. At first, it rented a small building, which on Kleparivska St had been a kindergarten. Later, the city authorities granted permission to take out a lease on school ‹14, which by then was classified as in dangerous condition. Owing to the efforts of academy’s administration and numerous benefactors, the dilapidated building was rebuilt into wonderful lecture halls and study rooms. At the time of its foundation, the former Austrian building had a church on its premises. During Soviet times, the worship space was used as a sports hall, and today it is a place for prayer and meetings with interesting people from all around the world.

During Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ukraine in June 2001, the sites of the future university on Stryiska St. and a new seminary on Khutorivka St. were consecrated. Metropolitan Andrey’s ardent hope, voiced already at the session of the Austrian parliament in 1905, came true after almost 100 years. The future buildings of the university and seminary are designed to meet all modern requirements for educational institutions.