Archbishop Luka protests for attempts to divide the Ukrainian society
January 2, 2016. During a press conference with the journalists of Zaporizhia (Ukraine), Archbishop Luka of Zaporizhia and Melitopol expressed his opinion about the suggestion of the Secretary of the Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council Alexander Turchinov. Mr. Turchinov suggested to move the celebration of the Nativity of Christ from January 7 to December 25, reports the Information Department of Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) with reference to the Reporter-ua.com website. January 7 is the civil date on which falls the 25th of December according to the old calendar.
According to His Eminence, the celebration of Christmas on this date is an ancient tradition for Orthodox Christians and it would be meaningless to move the feast-day allegedly for European integration. It is an attempt to split the Ukrainian society.
“This statement has exploded the public. This is the tradition in which we live. If we move the celebration, we will lose our tradition and will not acquire a new one. People are seeking to split our society. This idea is not from God. Our Church lives according to its own calendar, and we will continue to celebrate according to our own calendar. Again the society is being divided into “friends” and “aliens”, into “black” and “white”,” Archbishop Luka commented.