(Odessa) Ukrainians prepared for Christmas celebrations on Sunday in synchrony with the Western world for the first time in their history, a sign of defiance towards Moscow.
“We pray for the end of the war. We pray for victory,” declared President Volodymyr Zelensky in an exceptional address shot from the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a majestic Orthodox monastery founded in the 11the century.
“For peace, for justice,” he continued in front of this religious site which housed until the end of 2022 the primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church dependent on Moscow.
In Odessa, a large port city bordering the Black Sea, several dozen people gathered for the religious service in the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ. Inside the building, two large Christmas trees dressed in blue and sparkling garlands sit in front of the golden icons.
This is the first time in the modern history of Ukraine that Orthodox believers will celebrate Christmas synchronously with Catholics but also Greek, Romanian and Bulgarian Orthodox on December 25, and not on January 7 of the civil calendar like it was traditional until then.
PHOTO VALENTYN OGIRENKO, REUTERS
Ukrainians attended a service at Saint Alexander Cathedral in Kyiv on December 24.
The Russian Orthodox Church has in fact kept the old Julian calendar for religious holidays, shifted by 13 days, which places December 25 and the celebration of Christmas on January 7 of the civil calendar.
“We really want to celebrate this holiday in a new way. It’s a celebration with all of Ukraine, with our independent Ukraine,” Olena explains to AFP.
Her son, she said, volunteered in the Ukrainian army from the first day of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022 and is currently in the Kherson zone as a military medic (South).
“We really have to celebrate Christmas with the whole world, far, very far from Moscow,” says Olena, white hat on her head.
In July, Volodymyr Zelensky formalized the move of Christmas celebrations from January 7 to December 25, a decision that is part of a series of measures taken by Ukraine to distance itself from Moscow, in the midst of a Russian invasion that has lasted for almost two years.
The text voted on by Ukrainian deputies then explained that Ukrainians wanted to “live their own lives, with their own traditions, their own holidays”.
A way, the text also noted, to “abandon the Russian heritage which imposed Christmas celebrations on January 7”.
For Oleksandr Bubnov, a regular at the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Odessa, “if everyone accepts [le changement de date], this will easily spread throughout the country” as a new tradition. “The transition was easy,” he assures.
“Rejoin the civilized world”
Last July’s law thus illustrates the gap that has opened up between the churches of Kyiv and Moscow for several years, reinforced by the Russian invasion.
In Lviv, in western Ukraine and an area generally spared from Russian strikes, Taras Kobza is delighted with the change of date, “our path”, he swears, to move away from Russia. “We must rejoin the civilized world,” he adds after a religious procession through the streets of the city, dressed in his military uniform.
PHOTO YURIY DYACHYSHYN, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
People sang Christmas carols during Christmas Eve celebrations on December 24 in Lviv.
“It’s really great,” enthuses Tetiana, a singer in a traditional musical group. “I’m so happy that we’re finally celebrating New Year’s Eve and Christmas with the rest of the world,” she says.
“It’s natural, that’s how it should be,” continues Zoryana, her friend, wearing a typical colorful scarf on her head.
Placed for several centuries under the religious supervision of Russia, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was declared autocephalous and independent of the Moscow Patriarchate in 2019.
In May 2022, the Ukrainian Church, which remained loyal to Moscow, also declared its independence in reaction to support for the war expressed by Russian Patriarch Kirill.
A handful of Orthodox Churches in the world, including those in Russia and Serbia, still use the Julian calendar for their religious celebrations and not the Gregorian calendar, designed at the end of the 16th century.e century.
During the Soviet era, authorities advocated atheism, and Christmas traditions, such as Christmas trees and gift-giving, were moved to New Year’s Eve, which became the main holiday and still is for many years. many Ukrainian families.
On Christmas Eve, Ukrainians have a tradition of sitting at the table in the evening with 12 meatless dishes, including “koutia”, a dessert made from boiled wheat grains, honey, raisins, crushed walnuts and poppy seeds.