Epiphany backs Christmas celebration by the Gregorian calendar

Head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko. Photo: ua.news

The head of the OCU, Epiphany Dumenko, said that Ukrainians can celebrate Christmas by the Gregorian calendar on December 25 if they want to, according to Glavcom citing the Zik TV channel.

According to Dumenko, at the moment it is difficult to figure out how much time is needed to change the date of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ from the “usual for Ukrainians January 7” to December 25.

Epiphany is sure that the Local Churches living according to the “new style” use not the New Julian calendar but a secular Gregorian one, and therefore “celebrate Christmas according to the new Gregorian calendar. So we can do this in the future if the Ukrainian people accept it.”

Dumenko believes that in terms of the calendar, his structure should be guided by the conduct of its believers: “If the church sees that most Orthodox Christians in Ukraine are ready to accept this, that they want to celebrate it in a new style, in this case there will be no problems.”

Recall that Christmas is celebrated by the Julian calendar (according to the “old style”) by the Jerusalem Orthodox Church, the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Polish Orthodox Church and Mount Athos.

All the other Local Churches abide by the New Julian calendar. The Gregorian calendar is not used in Orthodoxy.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that “metropolitan” of the OCU in Volyn region, Mikhail Zinkevich, supported a group of activists from Lutsk who believe that Ukraine should celebrate Christmas separately from Russia.

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