A branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has announced that it will allow its congregations to celebrate Christmas on December 25, rather than January 7, as is traditional in Orthodox churches.
The announcement by the Kiev-based Ukrainian Orthodox Church widens the rift between the Russian Orthodox Church and other Orthodox believers that has deepened over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The decision came after “numerous requests were taken into account and the debate that has been going on for many years in the Church and in society was taken into account. foreseeing, in particular due to the conditions of war, the escalation of calendar differences in the public sphere,” the Ukrainian Orthodox Church said in a statement published on October 18.
Each church will have the option to celebrate on December 25, which marks the birth of Jesus according to the Gregorian calendar, instead of January 7, which marks the birth of Jesus according to the Julian calendar, which is still used by the Russian Orthodox Church .
In recent years a large part of the Orthodox community in Ukraine has turned away from Moscow, a movement accelerated by the Russian-instigated conflict in eastern Ukraine since 2014.
That schism became more open in 2018 after Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople – a Greek cleric considered the spiritual leader of Orthodox believers worldwide – approved the establishment of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church and canceled a centuries-old agreement that had given the Patriarch in Moscow authority for the churches of the country.
The Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has become closely associated with the Russian state under Russian President Vladimir Putin, responded by cutting ties with Bartholomew.
Then, in May, leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), another branch formally under the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, severed ties with the Moscow church, which is led by Patriarch Kirill, who gave his support for the invasion of Ukraine and has put his church firmly behind Putin.
In a statement, the UOC said it chose the “complete independence and autonomy” of the Ukrainian church.
The emergence of a church independent of Moscow has angered Putin, who has made restoring the so-called “Russian world” a centerpiece of his foreign policy and has rejected Ukrainian national identity as illegitimate.
And Cyril remains outspoken in his support for the invasion, announcing in September that Russian soldiers who die in the war against Ukraine will be absolved of all their sins.
“She sacrifices herself for others,” he said. “I am sure that such a sacrifice washes away all the sins a person has committed.”
