Epiphany: OCU is ready for calendar reform, but believers still oppose

The head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko. Photo: Ukrainska Pravda

Many believers oppose shifting the celebration of the Nativity of Christ ещ Вусуьиук 25, so a lot of educational work should be carried out, said the head of the OCU Epiphany Dumenko to media representatives at the end of the Bishops’ Council" held in Kyiv on Saturday, December 14, reports RISU.

Dumenko emphasized that the OCU is ready for the calendar reform, but as sociological studies and internal polls show, "believers, especially in Western Ukraine, are still opposing".

In his opinion, to change this situation, “a lot of educational work” is needed, to which he called on Ukrainian journalists.

“We need to explain to people that we are celebrating not a date but an event - the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ,” says Epiphany.

As reported, the head of the OCU said earlier that he did not see any problems for the OCU to move the date of the Christmas celebration to December 25. He expressed his conviction that the Local Churches living by the “new style” use not the new Julian but the secular Gregorian calendar, and therefore “celebrate Christmas according to the new Gregorian calendar. And we can do this in the future if the Ukrainian people accept it ”.

At the same time, the popular blogger and “priest” of the Orthodox Church Center, Alexander Dediukhin, suggested the optimal, in his opinion, “Solomon solution” of this issue: to enable each parish community to independently choose a calendar for the annual service cycle.

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