The head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphany, told about possible decisions regarding the celebration of Christmas on December 25 in an exclusive interview during the broadcast of the national telethon "Edyni Novyny".

"We have embarked on the path of church calendar reform.

Last year I said that it takes time, it takes several years, but in connection with the war, we see that the process is happening very quickly and dynamically.

Therefore, we respond to the requests of our faithful.

Therefore, this year we allowed to celebrate on December 25," explained Epiphany.

According to him, they generally celebrate December 25, just according to different calendars.

"There is no January 7, it is December 25 according to the Julian calendar.

But we have embarked on the path of reforming the church calendar.

We want to do everything so that there will be unity both in the church and in society.

According to the polls, we see that now the number of those who want change is already possibly even more than those who want to stay with the old style.

Therefore, we will study what happened at the next meeting of the synod and, of course, we will make a decision.

This will not be a decision of the synod.

The Synod will pass it on to the Council and further a more global decision will be made before changing the entire calendar," he added.

Epiphanius added that the change of the calendar concerns not only the celebration of Christmas, but the celebration of other possible church dates during the year, which we are very used to with you.

"And if we change them, then we must be aware that we are standing on the rails of the new calendar and celebrate the dates in a different way.

But I see that there is a perception, and therefore we will do everything in order to implement the calendar reform in the next year," he noted.

To the journalist's question about the fact that Ukrainians will already celebrate the Intercession on October 1, the head of the OCU Epiphany said that the question is a bit complicated, due to the fact that on October 14, several events are celebrated on this day, including not only purely church ones a holiday, but also the Day of the Cossacks, the Day of the Ukrainian Army, the Day of the UPA, etc.

"It will be a little difficult, because it is a public holiday, so it needs to be coordinated with the state.

Perhaps we will leave Pokrov on October 14, even when we switch to the new calendar.

We can change something, because this is our Ukrainian holiday, although it came from Byzantium, but there it is not so solemnly celebrated.

Well, they practically do not pay as much attention as Orthodox Ukrainians.

Therefore, it is necessary to study moods, analyze and then make certain decisions," explained the priest.

As for the Epiphany on January 7, he is convinced that at first it will be unusual for people, but then it will disappear.

"Dates are relative, and Christmas and other holidays.

That is, we do not say that Christ was born on such and such a date, because it is difficult to determine, but the church created such a calendar system, where everything is clearly defined by dates, etc.

Therefore, we will continue, if we already switch to a new calendar, then we will get used to other dates.

The date is not important, it is not a dogma.

What is important is what we celebrate.

We celebrate the coming into the world of the promised Messiah, Christ the Savior, who came for our salvation.

In order to complete the salvation of each of us.

This is the main thing, not 25 or 7. The date is not as important, as special as the very essence of the event that we are celebrating," Epiphanius summarized.

Statements of Epiphany

Earlier,

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Like, it is about laying one of the cornerstones in the solid foundation of the local church. 

Prior to that

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He reminded that it is Patriarch Kirill who is the co-creator and leader of the criminal ideology of the "Russian peace". 

Metropolitan Epiphany also

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