On 19 May 2025, the International Institute of Education, Culture and Diaspora Relations, Lviv Polytechnic National University, is holding a dialogue meeting «From War to Victory: About Spiritual Strength and Resilience» with Myroslav Marynovych.
Myroslav Marynovych is a Ukrainian public figure, founding member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, dissident, political prisoner during the Russian (Soviet) occupation, and now President of the Institute of Religion and Society, the Ukrainian Catholic University, Advisor to the Rector of UCU, founder and head of the Amnesty Movement in Ukraine (1991–1997), one of the authors of the concept of the Institute of Military Chaplaincy, member of the First of December initiative group, philosopher, religious scholar, publicist... This achievement list of the honoured guest is not exhaustive – it only gives directions for a confidential conversation at a time when despondency is creeping up; when, having failed to find inner support in yourself, you look for it in a stronger person; when moral principles are eroding, when there is an urgent need and responsibility before everyone to protect their country in a time of great trial.
- Where did the dissidents who rose up against the Soviet repressive system draw their strength from?
- How, after decades of terror, in an atmosphere of strict control and with all the available means of ideological processing, could this astonishing challenge to the regime have emerged?
- What gave hope in the struggle for the democratisation of society, respect for human rights and freedoms in occupied Ukraine, the free development of the Ukrainian language and culture, and the realisation of the rights of the Ukrainian people to their own statehood?
- What is the price of non-conformism? How can a young person fight the fear paralysis?
- How to find the centre of gravity in oneself in times of turbulence?
This and other experiences of struggle with the system and with oneself Myroslav Marynovych, a graduate of Lviv Polytechnic, will share with the participants of the meeting at his Alma Mater. The life credo of Myroslav Marynovych can be taken from the poetry of the immortal Ivan Franko:
«Blessed is the man who goes to the judgement of the unjust.
And there he raises his voice for the truth...»
Therefore, the organisers invite everyone who cares to meet Myroslav Marynovych, our great contemporary, one of the leading moral authorities and intellectuals of the Ukrainian nation, a man who chose principles over compromises with his conscience. The event starts at 12:00.
For more information, please send an e-mail to the IECDR at iiec@miok.lviv.ua. Media, please contact press@miok.lviv.ua or call +38 (032) 258–01–51, 096 540 56 33.