Archpriest Dimitry Sidor addressed the faithful after the trial

On May 31, 2023, a regular court session was held in the case of Archpriest Dimitry Sidor, at which the accusations presented by five witnesses were heard.

“All the witnesses directly said that they were very outraged, why I said in a sermon on December 3, 2022 that the position of the Orthodox Church in Transcarpathia is to keep the Julian calendar and Christmas on January 7th. But then we said that if someone wants to switch to December 25, then we do not forbid anyone, ”said the archpriest in his address to the faithful.

Father Dimitry stressed that «changing the date of Christmas is a change in a whole great culture, that layer that can die during such a transition.»

Also, according to the priest, he was blamed for the assertion that the postponement of the celebration of Christmas was initiated by “a bunch of civil servants who raised this issue in the Verkhovna Rada, with the Minister of Culture, etc.”, that “officials interfered in their own business and decided to manipulate throughout the country on the date of the Nativity of Christ.