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Head of OCU, Metropolitan of Kiev and Epifanio of all Ukraine (Photo: Radio Liberty)
He said it in an interview with Radio Liberty.
«In general, I don’t care, but I trust the opinion of our believers. We clearly know sociology, which shows that more than 60% of Ukrainians are against the celebration of December 25th. And we, as a church, trust our faithful, because we are only establishing ourselves as a recognized local OCU. And if we now switch to the new calendar, then, accordingly, there will be another division … We cannot speak of two Christmases. At the state level, some may celebrate. We have Roman Catholics celebrating December 25th. Nobody objects. And the state established this day as a day off. But there is still no transition period. When the church is mature, when the believers are mature for this, then of course an appropriate decision will be made, ”said Metropolitan Epiphanius.
According to him, this movement must occur «From the bottom. “
«I have said many times that it is a matter of time. It will happen, but when the Ukrainian people, the Orthodox believers and not only the Orthodox, other Christians, consciously approach this, because all this is interconnected. When we see that the majority is ready, a general church decision will be made on the transition, ”he added.
To clarify when this transition could occur, in 5, 10 or 20 years, the head of the OCU replied that it is difficult to predict now.
«It is necessary to engage in educational work. Because we see that in other local Orthodox churches, for example, the Church of Greece, the Romanian Church, at one point they switched to a new calendar, however, they have a certain division: those who are called “Old Calendarists” remain, that is , celebrate by old style. We have no right to allow division, ”said Metropolitan Epiphanius.
On January 7, the Orthodox Churches of Ukraine, as well as the Greek-Catholic Church of Ukraine, will celebrate the Nativity of Christ according to the Julian calendar. (so-called «old style “). The Roman Catholic Church and most Protestant churches, as well as most Orthodox churches in the world, will celebrate Christmas on December 25, according to the modern Gregorian or New Julian calendar. In Ukraine, since 2017 , December 25 is an official day off.
