UGCC head: Catholics & Orthodox Christians should celebrate Easter together

Sviatoslav Shevchuk spoke about the significance of the calendar reform for ecumenism. Photo: news.ugcc.ua

The head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, said in an interview with Radio Liberty that the issue of calendar reform has "an obvious ecumenical dimension".

“We want to do this type of reform together with our Orthodox brothers so that the calendar reform will not lead to another line of division between our Churches. We already have many historical divisions, we want to overcome them, so we try not to do anything that would divide us ... We see that this type of discussion is taking place at the level of ecumenical Christianity. We are talking about the need to reform not only moveable feasts but also the date of Easter. Not only do we want to celebrate Christmas all together but also Easter, the biggest Christian feast. Therefore, the ecumenical dimension of such a reform is now obvious to everyone, and we want to be part of this process," Shevchuk said.

Also, the head of the UGCC admitted that at the moment the majority of Ukrainian believers do not support the rejection of the Julian calendar.

“At the moment it (the calendar reform – Ed.) is not yet ready. I cannot say that in the near future we in Ukraine will be able to do this. Today I can say that the issue of calendar reform is still dividing. We had the opportunity to thoroughly discuss this at the Synod of our bishops of Ukraine, and so far we have seen that the percentage of people who understand and are ready to do it is quite small. There is no critical number that would allow doing this," Shevchuk said.

As reported, Shevchuk spoke about the plan to unite the UGCC and the OCU.

СПЖ писал, что Шевчук рассказал о плане объединения УГКЦ и ПЦУ.

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