UGCC and OCU to jointly discuss reform of church calendar
Orthodox Church of Ukraine and Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church will establish a joint working group to study a possible transition to new calendar.
The Head of the UGCC Svyatoslav and Metropolitan Epifaniy of the OCU of Kyiv and All Ukraine agreed on this, according to a statement on the UGCC website, informs Censor.NЕТ.
On December 24, 2022, the Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Svyatoslav, met with the Metropolitan of the OCU of Kyiv and All Ukraine, His Beatitude Epifaniy, at his residence - the Metropolitan House, located on the territory of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery.
Summing up the past year, the parties discussed the current situation in interfaith and church-state relations in Ukraine, the ongoing Russian aggression against our country, the prospects for the development of Ukraine in the post-war period and a number of other topical issues.
The heads of the churches paid special attention to the coordination of positions on the reform of the church calendar, which is becoming more and more acute before the Christmas and Easter holidays. After the discussion, it was proposed to create a joint working group that should comprehensively study this issue. This working group should develop specific proposals for the Primates and Synods of the two Churches in the context of preparations for the celebration of the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council held in Nicaea in 325. This Council defined the calendar principles of church life.
At the end of the meeting the hierarchs exchanged Christmas greetings and gifts.
The meeting was also attended by Archbishop Yevstratiy, Deputy Head of the Department for External Church Relations, and Metropolitan Archpriest Oleksa Petriv, Head of the Department for External Relations of the UGCC in Ukraine.
