Christmas is approaching, and discussions will begin again about whether it is better to celebrate this great holiday on 25 December or 7 January. This year, the Ukrainian Church switched to the new Julian calendar, so institutionally this discussion is over. This is a logical development. However, many people are used to celebrating according to the so-called “old calendar” and believe that the change of date somehow violates their habits and they object to it. In Greece, this debate took place much earlier, and it also took years for people to calm down.

The calendar issue was commented on for the Spiritual Front of Ukraine by Pantelis Boumpouras, Honorary Consul of the Hellenic Republic in Kherson with the consular district of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Kherson region, founder of the construction company “Gefest”.

“In my opinion, Ukraine should not enter into this discussion, as the obligation of believers to celebrate on 25 December, while they may not want to, serves as another argument for supporters of the ‘Russian world’. Representatives of the Russian Church and Russian ideas in Ukraine play on the feelings of believers. They say, “you are being forced to celebrate on a different date, your rights are being violated, and you are being brought something alien.” Those of us who have been involved in church affairs at least a little know that this is not the case, and celebrations according to the new Julian calendar are part of the Ukrainian church tradition,” the consul said.

Boumpouras noted that the division on the calendar issue is being artificially used by representatives of the “Russian world” in Ukraine to exacerbate the situation in Ukrainian society and sow discord.

“The issue of dates is not fundamental for Ukraine, and there is no reason for the church or political leadership to insist on it. On the contrary, it distracts public opinion from the main problem: Russian influence through the Church. Ukraine’s political leadership should take more substantial measures to limit Russian influence through the Church and not fall into the traps set by representatives of the “Russian world” in Ukraine. One of these traps is the division around the celebration of church holidays,” summed up the Honorary Consul of the Hellenic Republic in Kherson.