The issue of the church calendar in Ukraine currently divides the faithful, so the calendar reform of the church should be carried out jointly by the Greek Catholics and Orthodox.
The view was expressed by the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Supreme Archbishop Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) of Kyiv and Halych.
“I think that the issue of the (church – ed.) calendar for Ukraine today is really divisive so far… We have a lot of, I would say, such petrified conservatives who consider the calendar part of their religion’s identity. And when someone dares reform the calendar, they have a suspicion whether it is the real Church. Traditionalists of this kind exist in all denominations. And I think it’s a good thing now that we’re all celebrating Christmas and Easter together in Ukraine. This is at least a starting point for the next steps,” MIST quotes His Beatitude Sviatoslav as saying.
The head of the UGCC noted that every year, the number of people convinced of the need to reform the calendar is growing.
“We do not yet have a critical number that would allow us to take some formal steps, but it is gradually rising. For example, when children celebrate by the Gregorian calendar, and their father and mother – by the Julian calendar, it raises questions for the family of how we should all proceed with this… I hope we will move towards this end,” the Supreme Archbishop of Kyiv and Halych said, adding that the calendar reform is possible only in cooperation with the Orthodox brothers – the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
