The Orthodox Church of Ukraine (WTO), the most popular religious organization in the country, plans to completely switch to the new calendar.
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Today, May 24, the Bishops’ Council of the WTO will be held, where the relevant issue will be raised. Metropolitan Pereyaslavsky and Alexander Vishnevsky (Drabinko) spoke about this on the air of the national telethon.
The transition is planned from the Julian to the New Julian calendar, which actually coincides with the Gregorian and is already used today by most Orthodox churches in the world.
This issue will be brought up for discussion at the Council of Bishops, which will be held in the Refectory Church in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. All the bishops will be present who have held discussions on this issue with their flock – priests, believers – he said.
The metropolitan is convinced that the decision to move will be made, at least by the majority.
I think that tomorrow’s decision of the entire episcopate will be the same, if not unanimously, then by an overwhelming majority a decision will be made to switch the OCU to the new Julian calendar,” he noted.
The metropolitan noted that this decision would not be binding on everyone, voluntary, so as not to provoke a confrontation and a split within the church, as had previously arisen on a similar issue in Greece.
Optionally, there will be no coercive imposition. Which parishes wish to hold services or celebrate certain holidays according to the old style, they will have such an opportunity,” he noted. – Most likely, there will be two calendars that will be printed by the publishing department of the OCU, so as not to create any confrontation.
Alexander also noted another issue that the calendar reform raises – linking certain public holidays to church holidays, such as:
- Statehood Day on July 28 (on the Day of Remembrance of the Holy Prince Vladimir and the Day of Remembrance of the Baptism of Rus’);
- Defender of the Fatherland Day (associated with the Feast of the Intercession on October 14).
Due to the calendar reform, these holidays should be shifted by 13 days. According to Alexander, the Council of Bishops of the HCU will adopt a corresponding appeal to the leadership of the state.
Earlier, the decision to carry out a calendar reform was also announced by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The transition of the UGCC to the new calendar should take place from September 1 with the beginning of a new church year. The same model of calendar reform is being considered by the WTO.
Source: Racurs
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