The latest war between Russia and Ukraine: an air strike warns sirens across Kyiv on Christmas morning

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Ukrainians usually celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January, as do the Russians. But not this year, or at least not all of them. Some Ukrainian Orthodox have decided to celebrate Christmas on December 25, like many Christians around the world. Yes, this is about war, and yes, they have the blessing of their local church. The idea of ​​celebrating the birth of Christ in December was considered radical in Ukraine until recently, but the Russian invasion changed many hearts and minds. In October, the leadership of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church, which is not aligned with the Russian Church and one of two branches of Orthodox Christianity in the country, agreed to allow believers to celebrate on December 25. The choice of dates has distinctly political and religious undertones in a nation with rival Orthodox churches and where slight revisions to ritual can carry powerful meaning in a culture war running parallel to a shooting war. For some people, changing dates represents a break with Russia, its culture, and its religion. People in a village on the outskirts of Kyiv recently voted to raise the bar for their Christmas celebration. “What started on February 24, the total invasion, is the awakening and understanding that we can no longer be part of the Russian world,” said Olena Bali, 33, a resident of Pobretsya. The Russian Orthodox Church, which claims supremacy over Orthodoxy in Ukraine, and some other Eastern Orthodox churches continue to use the old Julian calendar. Christmas falls 13 days later in that calendar, or January 7, than it is in the Gregorian calendar used by most churches and secular groups. The modern and more astronomically accurate Gregorian calendar was first adopted by the Catholic Church in the 16th century, and since then Protestants and some Orthodox churches have harmonized their calendars for the purposes of calculating Christmas. The Synod of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine decreed in October that deans of local churches could choose the appointment with their communities, saying the decision came after years of discussion but also resulted from the circumstances of the war. In Pobretsia, some members of the religion promoted change within the local church, which had recently transitioned to being part of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, without any ties to Russia. When a vote was taken last week, 200 out of 204 people said yes to adopting December 25th as the new Christmas Day. “This is a big step because in our history we have never had the same dates for celebrating Christmas in Ukraine with the whole Christian world. All the time we were apart,” said Roman Ivanenko, a local official in Pobretsya, and one of the promoters of the change. With this switch, they “sever that connection,” he said. With the Russians. “The church is Ukrainian, and the holidays are Ukrainian,” said Oleg Shkula, a member of the Volunteer Territorial Defense Force in the area that includes the village. For him, his church should not be associated with “darkness, darkness, and with antichrist, as is the case in Russia today.” In 2019, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, granted full autonomy, or autonomy, to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.Ukrainians who favored recognition of a national church along with political independence for Ukraine from the former Soviet Union have long sought this The Russian Orthodox Church and its leader, Patriarch Kirill, vehemently protested the move, saying Ukraine was not subject to Bartholomew’s authority.The other main branch of Orthodoxy in the country, the Russian Orthodox Church, remained Ukrainian Orthodox, loyal to Moscow until the outbreak of war. It declared independence in May, though it remains under government scrutiny. That church traditionally celebrated Christmas on January 7th.

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