Ukrainians following both the Orthodox or the Greek Catholic faith celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7 with services all over the country.
The decision to celebrate the Nativity of Christ on Dec. 25 was taken at the Council of Ephesus in 431. The Roman Catholic Church and most Protestant churches celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, according to the modern Gregorian calendar.
A number of Orthodox and Greek Catholic churches celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, according to the modern Gregorian calendar, which corresponds to Dec. 25 on the ancient and mostly discarded Julian calendar.
Among Christians that celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar are the followers of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Georgia, Orthodox Church of the Czech lands and Slovakia, Athos monasteries, Metropolis of Bessarabia of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, as well as most Greek Catholic churches including the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Metropolitan Epiphanius of the newly established independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine (C) serves a morning Christmas mass in Saint Sofia Cathedral in Kyiv, with Ukrainian government officials in attendance.
The festivities in Kyiv were split between the two Ukraine’s Orthodox churches. Metropolitan Epiphanius of the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine served a morning Christmas mass in Saint Sofia Cathedral in Kyiv, with Ukrainian government officials in attendance.
After the conclusion of the mass and official celebrations, the decree of independence, or tomos, received on Jan. 6 from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Bartholomew I, will be placed on display in the Saint Sofia Cathedral.
Metropolitan Onuphrius of the Russian Orthodox Church held Christmas mass in the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church held his Christmas mass in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ on the left bank of Dnipro River, in Kyiv.
On Jan. 5, in an interview with the Channel 5, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav stated that a possible reunification of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is not an illusion.
“This is a good joyful prospect, because the entire Christian world, in particular, the Catholic and Orthodox community are looking for ways to unite. At ecumenical level, there is a dialogue to restore this unity, (we are talking) about eucharistic communion,” said Sviatoslav.
More than 1,000 police officers patrol Kyiv on Jan. 7, due to the number of festivities held in the city, according to the Kyiv city police. No serious incidents have been reported.
