The Ukrainian Catholic University (Ukrainian: Український Католицький Університет, Ukrains'kyy Katolyts'kyy Universytet) is a Catholic university in Lviv, Ukraine, affiliated with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The ceremonial inauguration honoring its founding took place on June 29, 2002. The Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) is the first Catholic university to open on the territory of the former Soviet Union and also the first university opened by one of the Eastern Catholic Churches. The Ukrainian Catholic University was created as the successor to the Greek Catholic Theological Academy created during 1928-1929 by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky in Lviv, at the time part of Poland. Josyf Slipyj became the academy's first rector. After its closure in 1944, the Ukrainian Catholic University in Rome, founded in 1963, continued the academy's functions under the leadership of Metropolitan Slipyj. In 1994, the original school was recreated under the name of Lviv Theological Academy, and in 1998, it became internationally recognized by the Congregation for Catholic Education. Then on June 28, 2002, the Ukrainian Catholic University was founded on the basis of the Academy.