In another sign of the widening fissure between the main Orthodox churches in Ukraine and Russia over the Kremlin's war against its neighbor, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) has approved a switch to the revised Julian calendar, a move that will move Christmas forward to December 25.
The OCU said on Facebook on May 24 that other Christian holidays will also be moved in accordance with the new Julian calendar -- which is aligned with the Gregorian calendar used in the secular world -- as of September 1.
Traditionally, Ukrainian Christians, most of whom are Orthodox, celebrate Christmas on January 7, the day most other Orthodox-dominated countries -- including Russia and several other Slavic countries -- mark the holiday. The switch brings Ukraine's Orthodox worshippers in line with the country's Catholics, who earlier this year approved a similar change in calendars.
The OCU's head, Metropolitan Epifaniy, said the move was "vitally necessary."
"This question arose with new impetus as a result of Russian aggression," the OCU wrote in the post, adding that the UCO's local council is expected to give final approval for the switch on July 27.
"Nowadays, the Julian calendar is perceived as connected with Russian church culture," it said.
Russia launched its full-scale, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Russia's Orthodox Church has staunchly backed President Vladimir Putin's move.
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In 2019, the OCU was officially recognized by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople -- the spiritual head of Orthodox Christianity's 300 million-strong worldwide community. It heralded a historic break with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), ending more than three centuries of Russian spiritual and temporal control of the dominant faith in Ukraine.
Ukraine has about 30 million Orthodox believers, roughly divided between the UOC-MP and two other Orthodox churches, including the independent OCU. More than 500 parishes have switched from the UOC-MP to the OCU in the past 18 months.
The OCU said in its Facebook post that "parishes and monasteries that wish to adhere to the old calendar will have this opportunity -- the calendar reform will take place without coercion, gradually and consciously."
"We remind people that the issue of calendar reform has long been discussed both in society and in the church. And we see that every year the number of supporters of the transition to the updated, modern calendar, which has been used by the majority of local Orthodox churches for a long time, has been growing," it said.
In December, a poll conducted by the Ukrainian government revealed that almost 60 percent of more than 1.5 million respondents supported switching to the new Julian calendar.
Ukraine's culture minister has previously expressed support for the switch in calendars, describing it as "appropriate to the demands of our time and public opinion."
