Eight months ago Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, Ukrainians have been fighting with great courage for their freedom and their European future. Ordo socialis believes in this European future of Ukraine and has therefore appointed two young Ukrainian theologians to its advisory board: Ihor Tril and Michael Fetko.
Ihor Tril was born and raised in Lviv (Lviv) in western Ukraine. There he also studied and attended the seminary. In 2015 he came to Germany to complete a licentiate and a doctorate in moral theology at the Faculty of Theology in Paderborn. His thesis is being supervised by Prof. Dr. Peter Schallenberg.
Michael Fetko is a priest of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church with residence in Uzhgorod in the very southwest of Ukraine. He also came to Germany for his doctoral studies and is mentored by the chairman of our Scientific Advisory Board, Prof. Dr. Markus Vogt at the LMU Munich.
Both Ihor Tril and Michael Fetko have the goal of returning to their home country after completing their doctorates and teaching theology and ethics there themselves. They finance their studies in Germany by working in pastoral ministry. Ihor Tril serves the Ukrainian parish in Paderborn and also works as a vicar in a pastoral team. Michael Fetko is a hospital chaplain at the city hospital in Solingen. Since the outbreak of the war, both have also been providing pastoral care for the many Ukrainian women and children who have fled to Germany, some of whom have been severely traumatized. The families of the two young priests continue to live in Ukraine, and some of their male relatives have already been drafted for military service and are fighting in defense of their homeland.