The decision on the new calendar will be made by the Synod of Bishops.

In May, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine will convene a council of bishops and consider the issue of general calendar reform.

As the Deputy Head of the Office of External Church Relations of the OCU, Metropolitan Yevstratiy Zorya of Bilotserkiv, reported on Facebook, “there are all the arguments and reasons to make a positive decision, while providing an opportunity for people who wish to preserve the previous calendar tradition.”

According to the metropolitan, similar reforms in the past caused problems where they were implemented “in one moment”, “from above”, without preparation and without the possibility of an alternative for those who are not ready to accept the new.

“Until now, our church has acted in the opposite spirit: gradualism, consideration of all arguments, providing an alternative. I am sure that this is the best way,” Zorya noted.

In addition, the metropolitan reminded that communities can already independently decide on the transition to the new calendar according to the appropriate procedure.

Transition of Ukrainian churches to the new calendar

Today, February 6, the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church at the 93rd session at the beginning of the month decided on the transition to a new style. Therefore, fixed holidays (those that fall on the same date of the month every year, for example, Christmas) from September 1, 2023 will be celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, and not the Julian calendar, as before.

Sociological surveys have shown that this year more than half of Ukrainians celebrated Christmas on January 7, and more and more people are starting to celebrate exclusively on December 25. The survey in the “Diye” service, which became the most massive (more than 1.5 million Ukrainians took part), showed that almost 60% of Ukrainians support the celebration of Christmas on December 25.