The decision by some Ukrainian churches to celebrate Christmas on December 25 instead of January 7, as is customary among Orthodox Christians, underscores the rift between the churches in Kyiv and Moscow, which has been deepened by the war.Kiev (Kyiv) /Moscow. In her own words, churchgoer Olga Stanko supports every measure taken by Ukraine to distance itself from Russia. She thinks the change of the Christmas date is overdue, she says.
“We were so gullible”
“The war brought us so much suffering,” says the 72-year-old. Almost in tears, she tells that her son is deployed near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where the fighting is currently the most fierce. “We forgot they were our enemies, we were so gullible. And now here we are at war.”
According to a survey by Interfax-Ukraine, almost half of the Ukrainian population is in favor of bringing the holiday forward – compared to 26 percent in 2021. However, 31 percent still oppose this.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate since the 17th century as a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church. Parts of it broke with Moscow in early 2019 as a result of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region in the east of the country. In May, after the Russian attack on Ukraine, she completely broke with Moscow.
The people who sat in darkness
On Sunday morning, the faithful sit tightly packed in a church near St. Michael’s Monastery. They kept their coats on to protect themselves from the cold. To the singing of a male choir, they light candles and stand in line for confession.
In his sermon, High Priest Mykhailo Omelyan apparently addresses the power and heating outages caused by Russian attacks, which are affecting millions of people across the country.
“The people who sat in darkness saw a bright light, and the light has dawned on those who are in the land and in the shadow of death,” he says, adding, in a harsh allusion to the Russian attackers: “Not everyone accepts the light that has shone… There are those people who love darkness more than light because their deeds are devilish.”
25 minute air alert
In front of the church, a burned-out Russian tank commemorates the war, and air raid alarms sound for 25 minutes during the service.
Putin: “Are ready to negotiate”
Olena Zakharova-Gorianska says she is happy to celebrate Christmas on December 25 for the first time. This is her free choice after surviving the Russian occupation of her town of Hostomel north of Kyiv. “I don’t want anything to do with the occupiers, the enemy,” she says.
But the Orthodox Church will also hold a Christmas service on January 7 for those who are not ready for the change, as Father Andriy says. “In my opinion, this is a transition phase. There are a few things that we cannot radically change overnight,” he adds. It will take a few years for the December 25 celebrations to catch on.
“Indeed, we must remember that we are not celebrating the date but the event – the birth of our Savior,” he says.
Omelyan points out that the loud demands for a complete abolition of Christmas celebrations on January 7 do not correspond to the will of all or most of the faithful Ukrainian Orthodox. Exact figures are not available, but only a “minority” of churches held Christmas services on Sunday. “A really big part of society still wants to celebrate on January 7th,” he says.
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