The calendar reform isn't over: the head of the UGCC has identified a holiday that could change its date.

The transition of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to the new calendar has been very successful. However, the reform is not yet complete, and the issue of Easter remains.

This was stated by the head of the UGCC, Svyatoslav, in an interview with RBK-Ukraine.

"The reform in our church has come remarkably calmly and unanimously," he said.

According to him, before the transition to the new calendar, 95% of surveyed parishes "wanted the reform and even lamented why it took so long."

As of now, out of all the UGCC communities in Ukraine, only one parish in the Kharkiv region requested a postponement, while all the others have made the transition.

"You know, it felt like an unprecedented unity. When our people sensed that the church leaders were indeed their leaders, we felt that the people were following us," he said.

Easter Date

At the same time, as Svyatoslav noted, the reforms are not over. "There is the question of the Easter reform. Because we want to not only celebrate Christmas, so to speak, with the whole world, but also Easter. Easter is the main Christian holiday. Our church today finds itself in a situation where we celebrate Christmas together, but Easter differently," Svyatoslav explained.

The head of the UGCC pointed out that there is a part of the church abroad that celebrates Easter with the Latin Church, "while we in Ukraine, following the principle of seeking unity with our Orthodox brothers, decided to continue celebrating with them."

Svyatoslav shared that he had a very interesting conversation on this topic with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew just a month ago, as well as with Pope Francis.

"It feels like the next year will be a catalyst for discussion at the universal level about the necessity and possibility of a reform, a joint reform of the Easter celebration. But there is a sense that we are still at the beginning of a very long process," the head of the UGCC added.

Let us recall that last year, The Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church transitioned to a new church calendar. Most holidays received new dates, in particular, Christmas is celebrated on December 25 instead of January 7. However, this does not apply to movable feasts, the dates of which change annually, particularly Easter.