“Abandoning Russian heritage”: Ukrainians will celebrate Christmas on December 25 for the first time

2023-12-24 17:17:21

“Far from Moscow”. Ukrainians on Sunday prepared for Christmas celebrations on December 25 for the first time in their history, a sign of defiance against Moscow, with Orthodox Russians still celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on January 7.

This is the first time in the modern history of Ukraine that Orthodox believers will celebrate Christmas — just like Catholics but also Greek, Romanian and Bulgarian Orthodox — on December 25, and not January 7 as it used to be. was traditional until then.

“We really want to celebrate this holiday in a new way. It’s a celebration with all of Ukraine, with our independent Ukraine,” says Olena. “We really have to celebrate Christmas with the whole world, far, very far from Moscow,” says this soldier’s mother, white cap on her head.

Distancing from the Russian Orthodox Church

In July, President Volodymyr Zelensky formalized the move of Christmas celebrations from January 7 to December 25, a decision that is part of a series of measures taken by Ukraine to distance itself from Moscow, in the midst of a long-lasting Russian invasion. for almost two years.

The text voted on by Ukrainian deputies then explained that Ukrainians wanted to “live their own lives, with their own traditions, their own holidays”. A way, the text also noted, to “abandon the Russian heritage which imposed Christmas celebrations on January 7,” according to the Julian calendar followed by the Russian Orthodox Church.

For Oleksandr Bubnov, a regular at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Odessa, “if everyone accepts (the change of date), it will easily spread throughout the country” as a new tradition. “The transition was easy,” he assures. Last July’s law thus illustrates the gap that has opened up between the churches of kyiv and Moscow for several years, reinforced by the Russian invasion.

Placed for several centuries under the religious supervision of Russia, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was declared autocephalous and independent from the Moscow Patriarchate in 2019. In May 2022, the Ukrainian Church, which remained faithful to Moscow, also declared its independence in reaction to the support for the war expressed by Russian Patriarch Kirill.

A handful of Orthodox Churches in the world, including those in Russia and Serbia, still use the Julian calendar for their religious celebrations and not the Gregorian calendar, designed at the end of the 16th century. Under the USSR (Soviet Union), authorities advocated atheism, and Christmas traditions, such as Christmas trees and gift-giving, were moved to New Year’s Eve, which became the main holiday and is still for many Ukrainian families.

On Christmas Eve, Ukrainians have a tradition of sitting at the table in the evening with 12 meatless dishes, including “koutia”, a dessert made from boiled wheat grains, honey, raisins, crushed walnuts and poppy seeds.