(Bratislava) – The Senate of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) has confirmed the priorities for its activities in 2017, another step towards meeting the goals of the UCU Strategy 2020. According to Rector Bohdan Prach, emphasis should be put on the integral development of young people, crossing the borders of academic environment. “Any university should prepare the youth for life in family and society, considering the variety of cultures and various ways of viewing the world. As a Catholic university, we also offer our students many opportunities for spiritual enrichment and for deepening their experience with the richness of Christianity”, reads the official statement of UCU, encouraging young people to live their faith in community and to take every opportunity to practise it. The Senate points to the fact that special attention in 2017 needs to be paid to the area of scientific research, as well as to the financial training of faculty leaders, so that they can manage their budget and financial resources with responsibility and skills. The highlight of 2017 should be the opening and start of activities of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptitskyi Center that is intended to become a key location at UCU for the implementation of its educational mission. “On the one hand, the center will represent a space for well-grounded intellectual development and the growth of the University’s community. On the other hand, it will offer educational opportunities to all members of the academic board, students, clergy, religious organizations, volunteers etc., with a view to promoting the community aspect of education and marking new ways of development for UCU”, explain the members of the Senate.