Orthodox Christians attended Christmas services in Kiev on Sunday. Usually they don’t celebrate it until January 7th. However, in order to break with the religious leadership in Moscow, the festival was brought forward. Nearly half of the population is likely to support this decision.
At least every second person is in favor of bringing the holiday forward, according to an Interfax-Ukraine poll. However, 31 percent reject the project. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church has belonged to the Moscow Patriarchate since the 17th century as a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church. However, parts of it broke with Moscow in early 2019, largely because of its annexation of the Crimean peninsula and Russia’s support for pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region. After the outbreak of war, the Ukrainian Church completely renounced itself.
Visitor supports distance
“The war has brought us so much suffering,” 72-year-old churchgoer Olga Stanko told AFP and APA news agencies. According to her own statement, she supports any measure by which Ukraine distances itself from Russia. The Christmas date change was too late. Stanko and other people crowded into a church near St Michael’s Monastery for Sunday morning services. To the singing of a male choir, they lit candles and lined up to confess.
Sermon: “Deeds of Satan”
In his sermon, High Priest Mykhailo Omeljan discussed, among other things, the power and heating failures after the Russian attacks. Millions of people across the country would suffer. “The people who sat in darkness saw a bright light, and for those who are in the land and in the shadow of death, the light has come,” he said. Referring to the Russian military, the words “There are people who love the dark more than the light because their deeds are diabolical.”
A burnt-out Russian tank in front of the church commemorated the war and an air raid siren sounded for 25 minutes during the service. A Christmas service will also be held on January 7 for those not ready for the date change. “I think this is a transition phase. There are some things that we cannot radically change overnight,” says Father Andrij. It will be a few years before the December 25 celebration catches on. In the end, it is not the date that is celebrated, but “the birth of our Saviour”.
Source: Krone
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