A Conversation on Cultivating Hope in Ukraine

Join Archbishop Borys Gudziak, who is Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and President of Ukrainian Catholic University, to discuss how to build hope in Ukraine. He is joined in conversation by Rory Finnin, professor of Ukrainian Studies from the University of Cambridge and recipient of the 2024 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies. This event also featured remarks from Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, Ambassador Oksana Markarova, a member of the Ukraine Mission to the U.S., Bishop Kevin Rhoades, Bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, and Taras Dobko, Rector of Ukrainian Catholic University.

Experience the Event

Presented by The Nanovic Institute for European Studies

This event also featured remarks from Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, Ambassador Oksana Markarova, a member of the Ukraine Mission to the U.S., Bishop Kevin Rhoades, Bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, and Taras Dobko, Rector of Ukrainian Catholic University.

Revolutions of Hope: Resilience and Recovery in Ukraine is a collaboration between Notre Dame’s Nanovic Institute, part of the Keough School of Global Affairs, and Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU). The conference, hosted at the University of Notre Dame in March 2025, focused on the positive and corrective response to this destruction, exploring reasons for hope, sources of hope, and the politics and ethics of hope in Ukraine. How is hope powerful or even revolutionary? How does it encourage resilience and recovery? And, above all, how can we build and promote the integral development of hope in Ukraine? The conference explored the concept, dynamics, and practices of hope through keynote addresses, panel discussions, the arts, and liturgical observances. For more information visit the event website.

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Archbishop Borys Gudziak is Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, the highest-ranking Ukrainian Catholic prelate in the United States, and the organizer and president of Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU). Archbishop Gudziak’s leadership of UCU, the first Catholic university established in the former Soviet Union, is grounded in the “pillars of the martyrs and the marginalized.” He is widely recognized for his courageous leadership, particularly his unwavering support of Ukraine during the “Revolution of Dignity” (2014) and subsequent Russian invasion. Archbishop Gudziak encourages prayer, informed awareness, and active assistance for Ukraine. He stresses that the true threat posed by Ukraine is its vibrant democracy, free press, and civic society, a “virus” that autocracies like Russia fear. Raised in Syracuse, New York, by Ukrainian refugee parents, Archbishop Gudziak earned his bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University before studying in Rome and earning his doctorate from Harvard University in Slavic and Byzantine cultural history. He moved to Ukraine in 1992, founding the Institute of Church History in Lviv. He was ordained a priest in 1998 and played a pivotal role in the transformation of Lviv Theological Academy into the Ukrainian Catholic University in 2002. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Gudziak head of the eparchy serving Ukrainian Catholics in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland. He is the author of more than 50 papers on the history of the Church, theological training and other topics, and in 2018 received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Syracuse. In 2019, he was elevated to Metropolitan-Archbishop of Philadelphia by Pope Francis, overseeing a vast territory encompassing several states. Later in 2019, he received the Notre Dame Award (2019), bestowed upon individuals whose lives embody the University’s ideals, and signed a university-level MOU between UCU and Notre Dame. He remains president of UCU and is a member of the permanent synod of the Church, which meets quarterly, often in Kyiv, as well as a sitting member of the Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.

Meet the Speaker: President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.

In December 2023, the University’s Board of Trustees elected Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., as Notre Dame’s 18th president, effective June 1, 2024. He also serves as professor of political science. Prior to serving as president, he was vice president and associate provost for interdisciplinary initiatives.

In his role as vice president and associate provost, he oversaw the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, iNDustry Labs, the Institute for Educational Initiatives, the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, the McGrath Institute for Church Life, the Notre Dame Technology Ethics Center, the Office of Military and Veterans Affairs, the ROTC programs, and the Raclin Murphy Museum of Art. He also directed the approval and review process of institutes and centers more generally.

Father Dowd was previously an assistant provost for internationalization with Notre Dame International, where his primary responsibilities included leadership of the Dublin Global Gateway, Kylemore Abbey Global Centre, and the São Paulo Global Center along with planning for future engagement with Africa.

The author of the book Christianity, Islam, and Liberal Democracy: Lessons from sub-Saharan Africa, Father Dowd focuses his research on African politics, ethnic politics, and the relationship between religion, political institutions, national identity, and human development. His current research explores religion and the integration of migrants/refugees in Europe and North America and the effects of faith-based schools on citizenship and civic engagement in Africa.

He is the founder of Notre Dame’s Ford Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity and a fellow of the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and the Nanovic Institute for European Studies in the University’s Keough School of Global Affairs.

A Notre Dame alum, Father Dowd earned an M.Div. from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and was ordained a Holy Cross priest in 1994. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from UCLA.

Meet the Speaker: Rory Finnin

Rory Finnin established the Cambridge Ukrainian Studies program in 2008. Finnin has curated and organized over 40 exhibitions and cultural events, advancing public understanding of Ukraine’s language, history, and society in the UK and beyond. His research focuses on the interplay between culture and identity in Ukraine, with particular attention to Crimea and Crimean Tatar literature, and his broader interests include nationalism studies, solidarity studies, and cultural memory in the region of the Black Sea. Finnin received his Ph.D. in Slavic languages and comparative literature from Columbia University. He is also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Ukraine, 1995-97). Finnin has published extensively, and his book, Blood of Others: Stalin’s Crimean Atrocity and the Poetics of Solidarity (University of Toronto Press), has received eight international awards, including the 2024 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies, administered by the University of Notre Dame’s Nanovic Institute for European Studies. Professor Finnin has also served as Head of the Department of Slavonic Studies and Chair of the Cambridge Committee for Russian and East European Studies.

Meet the Speaker: Oksana Markarova

Ambassador Oksana Markarova has served as Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States since February 2021, Permanent Observer of Ukraine to the Organization of American States since May 2021, and Ambassador of Ukraine to Antigua and Barbuda since July 2023. Prior to this role, Ambassador Markarova served in Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance (2015-2020), leading the department as Minister of Finance from 2018 to 2020. As Minister of Finance, she co-authored Ukraine’s macroeconomic revival program, achieving fiscal consolidation and debt reduction. Markarova earned her B.S. and M.S. degrees in environmental science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and her MPA in public finance and trade from Indiana University. Before pursuing a career in public service, Mrs. Markarova spent 17 years working in private equity and financial advisory having leadership roles in ITT investment group, Western NIS Enterprise Fund, Chemonic, and World Bank. She also founded the startup electronic archive company Archidata between service positions in 2020. Ambassador Markarova serves on the Boards of the Ukraine House DC Foundation in Washington DC, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and Ukrainian Development Foundation, and supports Ukrainian Catholic University and Ukrainian Press Museum-Archive.

Meet the Speaker: Bishop Kevin Rhoades

Bishop Kevin Rhoades serves as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, a position he has held since January 13, 2010. He earned bachelor’s degrees in philosophy from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and sacred theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University. Ordained a priest in 1983, Rhoades has held various pastoral and academic roles, including rector of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. Previously the bishop of Harrisburg, he is also active in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), having chaired committees on doctrine and family life. Bishop Rhoades is also a friend of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and its Catholic Universities Partnership, composed of Catholic universities in post-Soviet countries in Central and Eastern Europe, supporting its programs sponsored by the USCCB Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.

Meet the Speaker: Taras Dobko

Taras Dobko has served as affiliate faculty of the Nanovic Institute since 2023. Rector Dobko is responsible for operational management, strategic planning, and development of the university and academic culture, establishing international relations, developing support systems, and improving the quality of education and service to the community at UCU. Before serving as rector, Dobko served as senior vice-rector (2008-2023) responsible for general management of the university and establishing a culture of integrated human development for students, professors, and staff. Prior to this role he also served as vice-rector for academic affairs and dean of the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy. Dobko holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the International Academy of Philosophy in Liechtenstein. His research focuses on the happiness of the human person, phenomenology, ethics, human dignity, the concept of rationality in European culture, and the philosophy of religion. Dr. Dobko has strong academic ties to the University of Notre Dame, completing several semesters as a visiting scholar of the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, including all of 2022, and collaborating on academic initiatives to strengthen UCU’s global partnerships.

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