All our structures abroad celebrate Easter with Catholics, UGCC cleric says

Sviatoslav Shevchuk and Pope Leo XIV. Photo: Vatican News

On March 30, 2026, Ihor Yatsiv, head of the Information Department of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said in a comment to Ukrinform that all of the church’s parishes abroad celebrate the Resurrection of Christ according to the Western calendar.

“All structures of the Greek Catholic Church outside Ukraine live according to the Western method of calculating Pascha,” the UGCC representative said. He added that the “ideal solution” would be a final agreement on a common date between the Pope of Rome and Patriarch Bartholomew, noting that dialogue on the issue had intensified after the celebration of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. According to the cleric, once such an agreement is reached at the highest level, the transition to a common date in Ukraine will happen “automatically.”

At the same time, within Ukraine the UGCC continues to follow the Eastern Paschalion, despite switching to the new calendar for fixed feasts in September 2023. Yatsiv explained that this decision was driven by a desire to “preserve unity within Ukraine,” implying coordination with the OCU.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that most UGCC structures are effectively located abroad. The head of the Greek Catholics, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, has stressed that most of his church’s eparchies and exarchates are situated outside Ukraine. According to him, this “global network” enables the UGCC to act in international organizations, including the United Nations, as a “voice of Ukrainian civil society.”

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