Kyiv. Christmas is being celebrated in Ukraine on December 25 this year instead of January 7. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine has given approval for to people that they can celebrate Christmas on December 25 just like the rest of Europe. The only reason for this is that due to the war, Ukraine wants to cut all ties with Russia.
In fact, in Ukraine and Russia, festivals are celebrated according to the rules of the Orthodox Church. Due to this, both countries celebrate Christmas on 7th January. According to Politico, this is happening for the first time in Ukraine when Christmas is celebrated on December 25. After this decision of Ukraine, the tension between the churches of the two countries will increase.
The archbishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Yevstrety Zoria told Politico that we are giving people the option they can choose the day of their choice for Christmas. He said that this change has already started in 2017. When December 25 was declared a holiday in Ukraine. Many people in the church appealed that we do not follow the Julian calendar of Russia. After which this decision has been made.
The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is also divided into two sects. One of these is the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) and the other is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC). In 2018, UOC was separated from OCU. Which is considered pro-Russian. Due to these reasons, there are repeated demands to ban it in Ukraine.
Christians around the world follow two calendars in particular. One of these is the Georgian calendar and the other is the Julian calendar. Currently, the most commonly used is the Georgian calendar. However, both Russia and Ukraine follow Orthodox Christianity, which is why they use the Julian calendar. The Julian calendar is considered much older than the Georgian calendar. For this reason, Ukraine and Russia celebrate Christmas 13 days later, on January 7.
Christianity is divided into three denominations: Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox and their religious book are the Bible.
Catholicism – With 1.2 billion adherents, it is the largest branch of Christianity, whose followers consider the Pope in the Vatican City of Rome as their religious leader.
Protestantism is the second-largest branch of Christianity, with about 920 million adherents. It was built during the Reformation movement in the sixteenth century. They are staunch opponents of the Roman Catholic Church. Orthodox – is the third major branch of Christianity. The number of followers is 270 million. They do not follow the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, but they have their own traditions. Here the head of the church is called Patriarch or Metropolitan.
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