The head of the UGCC on the calendar reform: I hope that our Orthodox brothers will follow us

The head of the UGCC expressed confidence that the OCU would also carry out a calendar reform. He stated this live on Live TV.

“I hope that our Orthodox brothers will follow us,” said Svyatoslav Shevchuk.

The head of the UGCC recalled that last year in December he met with the head of the OCU, Epifaniy, and had a conversation about the reform of the church calendar. “I am very grateful to His Beatitude Epifaniy for his openness, sincerity, the opportunity to meet and have such a fraternal discussion. At that time, in December, we were not yet ready to announce the dates when our Church would be ready for such a step, but I presented my considerations on this topic to our Synod of Bishops,” he said.

Svyatoslav Shevchuk noted that he then proposed to create a working group that would work out a common position on the reform of the calendar.

“So far we have not created such a working group, but we would like it to work. Moreover, now we will have concrete proposals for work in this group,” he stressed.

“I would very much like our experience of the calendar reform to serve our Orthodox brothers. It is very important to understand that we are moving towards the same goal. Although, perhaps, we are going to it in different ways,” added the head of the UGCC.

Finally, Svyatoslav Shevchuk spoke about his belief that “this year, together with our Orthodox brothers, we will celebrate Christmas on December 25 and together we will bless the water in the Dnieper on January 6.”