Ukraine: Head of the UGCC wants to move to new calendar together with the Orthodox
“But this is a whole different story in Ukraine, - His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized. – Here, a matter of the calendar reform is matter of a division, rather than unity. And it is said by both representatives, Orthodox and our Church. Thus, I do not look that far ahead as making this big shift of the calendar reform”. The Head of the Church assumes that the calendar reform it is always a durability test. “Even those orthodox Churches (Bulgarian and Greek) which made those changes had gone through church divisions. Since, there are always groups which will not share the initiative. Today we come across many divisions and separations in our society, so we try not to take these fake steps, which might cause greater disengagements”.
The Head of the UGCC compared a matter of the calendar reform to a group of pilgrims, which consists of people of different pace, someone moves quicker, some are at the back, and a leader’s task is to make all step together. “Those, who are very eager to want this calendar reform to happen quickly, say: wait, because not all catch up with you; and those who think that the calendar is a doctrine of faith and something unreachable, say, it is so. And you, do not fall behind”, added His Beatitude Sviatoslav. “This is how we make our pilgrimage. I assume the Church won’t lose its credibility if it doesn’t chase ideas only. We will be caring for the good of people. We will hear the first and the last ones”. (Quelle: www.risu.ua, 31. Juli 2021)