The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (separated from Moscow) is expected to change the day it celebrates Christmas to December 25, greekcitytimes.com reports,
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which obtained autocephaly from Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in 2019 to the anger of the Patriarchate of Moscow, is considering the idea of switching to the Gregorian Calendar. Archbishop Shevchuk noted on Monday that he hopes it will make the move very soon.
“We are moving towards the same goal. However, we may be moving towards it in different ways. We decided to switch, leaving the possibility to remain on the old calendar for those who aren’t ready”, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church pointed out.
The OCU is expected to discuss the issue when its bishops gather in May this year.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), for their part, have announced that they will start celebrating Christmas on December 25, and not on January 7, and the Epiphany on January 6 instead of the 19th.
The switch of dates is part of a major change decided last week by the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, moving away from the Julian Calendar which is presently used almost solely by the Russian Orthodox Church and other Eastern Churches under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Moscow.
The governing body of the UGCC meeting in Lviv-Bryukhovychi on February 1–2, decided that the changeover will take effect on September 1, but enabled parishes to transition gradually with permission from their respective bishops.
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