Moscow Patriarch Bartholomew
Russian women in Istanbul greet Patriarch Bartholomew at the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called. Photo: Phanar's Facebook page
In recent days, several public figures have called 7 January "Moscow Christmas". The head of the Volyn RMA, Nedotep, stated that on this day, only "enemies, who should disappear like Russia," celebrate. The Volyn "metropolitan" M. Zinkevych assured that those celebrating according to the Julian calendar are not with Ukraine, but "with those who la-la-la" (a reference to a profane song about Putin). Finally, Poroshenko reprimanded the Rada for the MPs celebrating "Moscow Christmas" instead of working.
One could spend a long time explaining to these people that 7 January is celebrated by the Jerusalem, Serbian, Macedonian, Polish, Georgian Churches, and Mount Athos.
But perhaps the most convincing argument would be Patriarch Bartholomew's "Old Style" Christmas service for the Russian community in Istanbul. During it, the parishioners greeted His Divine All-Holiness in Russian national costumes and kokoshniks (a traditional Russian headdress worn by women and girls – Trans.). So, there are three "crimes" in a row:
• A service according to the Moscow calendar,
• A service for Russians,
• Propaganda of the culture of the aggressor country.
We suggest that the "hierarchs" of the OCU and patriotic politicians refer to Patriarch Bartholomew as nothing other than the "Moscow cassock".
Read also
On how the OCU scorns its own rent-a-crowd
According to Zoria, the OCU looks down on staged crowds – for them, “what matters is truth, not the number” of parishioners. And yet, for every one of Epifaniy Dumenko’s traveling services, people are bused in by the coachload.
Persecution of UOC and liquidation of UGCC in 1946: Are there parallels?
After the defeat of Nazi Germany and the liberation of Western Ukraine, the leadership of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) initiated negotiations with Soviet authorities concerning the future of its ecclesiastical structure.
On the mobilization of a priest as a sniper
A man who has chosen the path of the priesthood has no right to join the army and take up a weapon. And the very idea of killing another human being is all the more absurd.
On statistics: how many Orthodox, Muslims and Jews we have
Trust in the Razumkov Center's research methods on the topic of Orthodoxy is minimal.
Why helping children with cancer is a threat to state security
We should have long got used to the antics of some MPs, especially those who furiously hate the UOC. But they don't stop surprising us.
Is Ramadan closer to the authorities than Great Lent?
Have Muslims and Jews – who together make up just over one percent of the country’s population – become a privileged class? And yet Ukraine is widely seen as a Christian country.