Feel, taste, listen and hop: the outcomes of Christian youth festival Wind of Hope held in Lviv

IV all-Ukrainian event had a vast inter-confessional format, as everybody could visit it, notwithstanding their religious views and age.

A motto for the festival became words said by metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky: “The one who truly loves – cares for the others, their good deeds lay in his heart”. Organizers – the UGCC Commission of Youth reckon that success in this or that field can be called a success only when an activity cultivates important moral values, precisely love to one’s job and neighbors.

Wind of Hope started with a Hierarchal Divine Liturgy led by bishop of Philadelphia Borys Gudziak, the president of Ukrainian Catholic University. “Here are at least as many as a thousand more than it was with Christ’s disciples. If we are true Christians, we will be able to make huge differences in our society. Dear young people, you are our wind of hope. You can be free, healthy. You can create something significant, and may God bless you with that”, referred bishop Borys to the audience.

Locations to conduct a fest were chosen to be edifices of Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU Sheptytsky Center, Academic building, the church of the Holy Wisdom of God) together with Sryiky park and a wooden church of the blessed martyrs of the UGGC. Here guests could find any event or speaker “up to their tastes”: charity exhibitions, books presenting, discussions for elder classes, spiritual ground and entertainment.

“This is the second time I am visiting this festival and I like the atmosphere. I want to listen to lectures because they are delivered by nice speakers. After such meetings we learn a lot of new things”, explains Khrystynka Petrynka.

It is good to mention that guests of the festival also shared their impressions in social networks. “I have gone through a tremendous exclusive experience, where 10 thousands of young people all around Ukraine got together. I feel uplifting because I could share with the participants of the fest what can I do. I was talking about our superpower – emotions without controlling what we cannot be strong from the inside and with a help of what we can achieve the highest scores and how to subjugate them after all. Being a mentor of business holders I am pleased to be in need for this community – these are our future leaders, the one who will be changing our country tomorrow for the better and help it to become powerful and prosperous”, the speaker highlighted.

During a day the audience was energized by such bands as PopryVse", "SofiBand", "Quo Vadis_DDS", "ModernFolk", “Zori-Kosy” and “MetaNoya”. In the evening the punch line was hit by “Cana”, ДикоBrass and a headliner called “Antytila”.

The UGCC Department for Information