At the Synod of Bishops, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) decided to switch to the new Julian calendar, but to retain the right of parishes and monasteries to celebrate church holidays according to the old Julian calendar.
The press service of OCU writes about it.
The calendar reform comes into effect on September 1, but it still has to be finally approved on July 27 by a decision of the Local Council.
From now on, Christmas will be celebrated on December 25 instead of January 7, Epiphany on October 1, Epiphany on January 6, and Saint Nicholas Day on December 6. At the same time, the changes will not affect Easter and the Trinity.
"[This decision] is as necessary as the decision to introduce the living Ukrainian language in worship instead of traditional Slavic was necessary at one time, to introduce an autocephalous system of church life instead of centuries-old subordination. Not everyone accepted these decisions, not everyone supported them, but they were true and vitally necessary. The decision to switch to an updated calendar, which is more precise astronomically and church-accepted, while preserving the traditional Easter, is equally true and vitally necessary for us," commented Metropolitan Epiphany.
The OCU decided to join the majority of local Orthodox churches and introduce the New Julian calendar, as many people express their support for it, wanting to preserve Ukrainian identity and protect themselves from the "Russian measure".
- In 2019, Metropolitan Epiphany emphasized that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is not against the calendar reform. The OCU expressed agreement with his statement, if this decision is supported by the majority of believers and the Synod.