Ukraine marks the Year of the Ostroh Bible to reconnect history, education, and faith

# Context and purpose In 2026 Ukraine launched the Year of the Ostroh Bible, a public education program that brings together historical research, ecumenical gatherings and travelling exhibits. The initiative marks three related anniversaries: the 500th anniversary of Prince Vasyl-Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi's birth, the 450th anniversary of the Ostroh Academy, and the 445th anniversary of the Ostroh Bible — the first complete printed Bible in Church Slavonic produced in the city of Ostroh.

# Why these anniversaries matter now Organisers present the anniversaries as part of Ukraine's cultural and educational roots. Prince Ostrozkyi founded the Ostroh Academy to promote learning among the Ruthenian population. The academy and the printing of the Ostroh Bible helped spread literacy, shaped local language and supported religious life across Ukrainian lands in the early modern period. Program leaders argue that remembering these developments can inform public life and civic renewal during present challenges.

# Program components Bible program mixes academic and devotional activities.

• Ostroh Relic travelling exhibition: Two complete exhibition sets are available for local venues. Each set contains large information panels on Bible history, the life and motives of Prince Ostrozkyi, and the origins and significance of the Ostroh Bible. Visitors can use a wooden printing press to print a page styled after the Ostroh Bible with the Lord's Prayer.

• Media and outreach: Documentary screenings, distribution of informational materials and a public education campaign in the media accompany the exhibitions and conferences.

# Organising and local delivery

# Audience and aims The program seeks two outcomes. The academic strand aims to reinsert the Ostroh Bible and early modern Ukrainian scholarship into public and scholarly discussion. The spiritual strand provides interdenominational spaces for prayer and reflection tied to the historical material. Organisers describe a longer-term vision of encouraging educational initiatives that increase the church's public engagement and contribute values relevant to reconstruction and renewal.

# What visitors experience Exhibition visitors receive historical context about printing and the Bible's role in education and national identity. The hands-on printing press is a focal attraction: visitors can make a keepsake page in the Ostroh Bible design. The travelling format and duplicated exhibition sets are intended to make the material accessible across Ukraine.

# Practical takeaway Bible is a coordinated cultural and educational effort to foreground a specific early modern achievement in printing and education and to use that history in contemporary conversations about Ukraine's identity, civic life, and religious cooperation.