The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) can move to celebration of Christmas on December 25 after the Bishops' Council, which will be held in May.
Metropolitan Yevstratiy Zoria of the OCU announced this, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
According to him, the OCU Synod has already decided that communities that wish to switch to the new style can do so according to the appropriate procedure. Also, the issue of the general calendar reform was brought up for consideration by the Council of Bishops, which will meet in May. There is still time until September 1, when the new church year begins. In my opinion, as one of the members of the Council of Bishops, there are all the arguments and reasons to make a positive decision, while at the same time providing the opportunity for communities that wish to preserve the previous calendar tradition," Zoria said.
He added that the experience of reforms in the past shows that problems arise where the reform is implemented "in one moment", without preparation, "from above" and without the possibility of an alternative for those who are not ready to accept it.
Until now, the OCU acted in the spirit of the opposite: gradualism, consideration of all arguments, providing an alternative.
The Metropolitan is sure that this is the best way.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church announced that it will switch to a new calendar from September 1, 2023. Accordingly, the dates of some religious holidays will change for those who are parishioners of the Greek Catholic Church. However, the date of Easter has not yet changed.
The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church believes that during the reform of the church calendar, it is necessary to change the date of celebration not only of Christmas, but also of many others, i.e., of all fixed holidays in the liturgical year.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine advocates a balanced approach to the transition of the celebration of Christmas to December 25 in order to prevent a split in the church.
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