Are those who celebrate Christmas on 7 January considered “Muscovites” now?

Now Ukraine has new “enemies” – those who celebrate Christmas on 7 January. Photo: UOJ

On 7 January 2025, Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem led the Christmas service in Bethlehem. The Patriarch of Jerusalem was warmly welcomed by representatives of the Palestinian state, where Bethlehem is located, the Israeli Ministry of Internal Affairs and local authorities. Yet, Christians in Israel make up only 2% of the population, and the number of Orthodox Christians is even smaller.

On 7 January (25 December on the Julian calendar), Christmas was also celebrated by the Georgian, Serbian, Russian, Macedonian and Polish Orthodox Churches, as well as Mount Athos. Authorities in these countries congratulated their citizens on the feast. For example, Polish President Andrzej Duda addressed the Orthodox believers in his country with a congratulatory message. He wished that "in our entire Homeland, Christians of different denominations treat one another with respect and friendly openness, supporting one another in service and working for the common good".

This is despite the fact that Orthodox Christians in Poland are only about 600,000, or around 1.6% of the population. The vast majority of Poles are Catholics, and the whole of Poland already celebrated Christmas two weeks ago. However, President Duda did not find it shameful to address 1.6% of his population and wish them a Merry Christmas on the very day they celebrate it. "The Feast of the Nativity of the Lord brings profound peace and rest, makes us forget disputes and worries and opens human hearts to the needs of others," Andrzej Duda wrote in his congratulatory message.

In contrast, the President of the neighbouring country, Ukraine, where the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) represents 6 million citizens (around 20-25% of the population), not only failed to mention Christmas but also took away the day off from believers. If he is threatening to take away the Church, then the day off is a small matter. And, fully aware that millions still celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar (7 January in the new style), Zelensky claimed on 25 December that Ukrainians had all switched to the new date.

"For the second time in modern history, Christmas unites all Ukrainians," said the Ukrainian President. So, does that mean that the 6 million believers of the UOC are no longer Ukrainians?

Before Christmas was shifted by two weeks, this holiday truly united almost all Ukrainians. The Orthodox, Greek Catholics, supporters of the OCU and Filaret followers – all celebrated on 25 December according to the Julian calendar.

But President Zelensky and his team decided to artificially divide the citizens of Ukraine into the "right" celebrants and the "wrong" ones.

However, let us continue our selective overview of foreign countries to show how pitiful and disrespectful to their own people the current Ukrainian rulers are.

In the United States, the number of Orthodox Christians is only 0.55%, yet on 7 January, US President Joe Biden congratulated Orthodox Christians on their Christmas.

"We join Orthodox Christians in giving thanks for the miraculous birth of Jesus Christ and the hope and love He brought to our world," Biden said in a written statement issued by the White House press office on Orthodox Christmas.

On this day, Pope Francis also congratulated Orthodox Christians on the Nativity of our Lord Jesus. He had already celebrated Christmas earlier, but still addressed those who celebrate according to the Julian calendar. Moreover, the Pope’s flock in Ukraine, that is, the UGCC, has switched to the new style. Nevertheless, the pontiff wrote in his message: "I am pleased to convey my warmest wishes to the ecclesial communities of the east, who celebrate Holy Christmas."

A real cognitive dissonance was triggered among supporters of the OCU by the service in Istanbul. Their leader (as stated in the Tomos), Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, on 25 December (7 January in the new style) led the Christmas service for the Russian-speaking community at the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called. The event was quite remarkable. It was broadcast live on the Facebook page of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, with Russian girls in national costumes and kokoshniks (a traditional national headdress), greeting Patriarch Bartholomew. Moreover, he does so annually, despite the fact that the Church of Constantinople follows the new style. In other words, the head of the Phanar not only held a service for Russians but also managed to promote the national culture of the aggressor state on the official media channels of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Attitudes to the old calendar in Ukraine

Poor Bartholomew! After all, he got a scolding from both the person inscribed in the text of the Tomos and his underlings from the OCU.

On 7 January, former President Petro Poroshenko, whose efforts led to the creation of the OCU and whose name is mentioned in the Tomos, complained that MPs had not shown up in the Verkhovna Rada, but had instead gone to celebrate, as he put it, "Moscow Christmas".

Volyn “Metropolitan Mykhailo Zinkevych (OCU) spoke in the same vein. The "hierarch" said in a sermon at the Lutsk Cathedral that "Rizdvo (Christmas in Ukrainian – Ed.) is celebrated on 25 December, while Razhdestvo (Christmas in Russian – Ed.) is on 7 January" and urged Ukrainians to "make up their minds". "We celebrate with Ukraine on the 25th, and with those who are 'la-la-la' – on the 7th. Make up your minds," Zinkevych stated. The "la-la-la" is a reference to an abusive song about the President of the Russian Federation, for context.

Even further went the head of the Volyn Regional Military Administration, Hryhoriy Nedopad, who, speaking together Zinkevych from the pulpit of the Lutsk Cathedral of the OCU, said that in Ukraine, in addition to the war with the Russian Federation, "there is a war for dates".

In his view, 25 December is fighting with 7 January. He assured that 100 years ago, the Bolsheviks "forced us to celebrate (Christmas – Ed.) on 7 January. <...> But starting from 2017 or 2018, we gradually came to the point where Christmas was officially declared on 25 December." This claim that the Bolsheviks moved Christmas from 25 December to 7 January, and that V. Zelensky returned it to 25 December, was thoroughly analysed by the UOJ in the article "On Christmas, Politics, Calendars and Feuds".

However, for people like M. Zinkevych or H. Nedopad, these arguments seem to have no significance. What matters to them is labelling Orthodox believers as enemies and providing a completely simple, albeit false, distinguishing mark between the "right" and "wrong" Ukrainians – the date of Christmas celebration. And so, the "wrong" Ukrainians, who are 6 million, were called enemies by H. Nedopad, who wished victory over them. "I am convinced that we will have victory not only on the frontlines but also in spiritual life. And the enemy must disappear, just like that Russia, which has not allowed us to live and develop for many millennia," declared the official.

According to the logic of the head of the Volyn RMA and "Metropolitan" Mykhailo Zinkevych, the enemies that must disappear include entire above-mentioned Local Churches, as well as US President Joe Biden, Polish President Andrzej Duda, and many other heads of state who congratulated their citizens on the "wrong" date. But most importantly – millions of Ukrainian citizens who attended churches on 7 January. Among them are soldiers fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, government officials, businessmen, workers, pensioners, women and children. Also, among them is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate, led by the ultra-patriotic Filaret. Are all of them enemies? And where are they supposed to disappear to?

How politicians divide the people

And this is not just a slip of the tongue or thoughtless statements by individual personalities. Unfortunately, it is the state policy of the current Ukrainian government, aimed at dividing Ukrainian society and cultivating hostility between different parts of it. As already mentioned, in the past, all Ukrainian denominations truly celebrated Christmas on the same day, 25 December (7 January in the new style). The UOC, OCU, UGCC, and even the still existing UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate – all celebrated Christmas together. But for some reason, the Ukrainian authorities felt the need to divide the people and use the church calendar issue to do so.

The authorities made their first efforts to achieve this separation back in 2017, when there was no full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and the OCU had not yet been created. At that time, 25 December was declared a nationwide holiday. The slogans under which this was done were very appealing. It was claimed that Catholics, who make up about 1.9% of Ukraine’s population, suffered greatly because they could not enjoy a day off on this date. And so, the ultra-tolerant Ukrainian state decided to declare a nationwide public holiday for them. Although in practically all civilised countries, under labour legislation, individuals of any religion can request a day off for their major religious feasts, and this day off is granted without any problems.

At that time, the heads of the UGCC and OCU, Sviatoslav Shevchuk and Serhiy (Epifaniy) Dumenko, stated that they would not switch to the new style, as their communities were not ready for this, and such a change would cause disputes and unrest. However, by 2022, they voiced their support for the calendar reform. On 18 October 2022, the Synod of the OCU allowed its parishes to celebrate Christmas according to both the old and new styles – whoever preferred. On 2 February 2023, the Synod of the OCU made the decision to fully adopt the new calendar. The same decision was made by the Synod of the UGCC on the same day. Amazing synchrony! And the final stroke – on 14 July 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine cancelled a day off on 25 December (7 January in the new style), disregarding 6 million Ukrainian citizens.

Hostility against one's own population

The fact that V. Zelensky did not congratulate 6 million Orthodox Ukrainians on 7 January sheds much light on the situation. The rhetoric of the authorities consistently presents two main points: firstly, that the people of Ukraine are united, and secondly, that the government is fighting against the "Moscow priests", by which they mean the clergy of the UOC. The implication is that UOC priests are bad, but the people are good. Yet, the fact remains: at least 6 million Ukrainian citizens celebrate Christmas according to the old style. 6 million! The accuracy of this figure is confirmed by Google search statistics.

On this day, the search query "Merry Christmas" topped the list of searches. This shows that Ukrainians continue to actively celebrate Christmas on 7 January. Surely, V. Zelensky could have congratulated them?! The President of Poland, A. Duda, congratulated 1.6% of his citizens, the President of the USA, J. Biden, congratulated 0.55% of his citizens, yet the President of Ukraine, V. Zelensky, "ignored" 20-25% of his citizens. Meanwhile, an official close to him even called them enemies and wished for their disappearance. From all this, it follows that for our rulers, 6 million Ukrainians are truly considered enemies. The authorities are not fighting "Moscow priests" but rather all the UOC faithful, the entire Church.

Declaring a significant portion of the population as enemies is provoking civil confrontation, which is particularly criminal during wartime. Inciting interfaith conflict is direct work for the external enemy.

Dividing citizens who, in 2022, unitedly defended the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state into the "right" and the "wrong" is a path to defeat. The persecution of the UOC is not about quitting the "Russian world"; it is about repressing millions of their own citizens.

What Christ said about this

The faithful of the UOC must understand that Christ spoke about all of this to His disciples. "Before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so, you will bear testimony to me. [...] You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls." (Luke 21:12-19).

These words were said by Christ in response to the disciples' question about the signs of the end of the world, but they were, to some extent, fulfilled during all the persecutions in the history of the Church. All of this was foretold: the hatred from those close to you, the persecution from the state, the violence, the exile, and everything else. And in these circumstances, the Lord commands His disciples simply to endure. To endure and remain faithful until the end. "By your endurance you will gain your souls."

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