Despite the 1,000-year history of the church in Ukraine and the 800-year history of the university in Europe, Christian higher education has always struggled to survive in the territory that is now Ukraine. While one early Catholic university did exist in the territory of Ukraine when it was under Polish rule, only since Ukraine became independent in 1991 has it hosted its own Christian university. This paper overviews the historical reason for this phenomenon and then examines the unique contributions and challenges produced by Ukrainian Catholic University's presence. In the end, the article describes the unique difficulties faced by this university in a country where Ukrainian politicians are still using old Soviet-style tactics to intimidate academics.