Stefanchuk: Shifting Christmas and other church dates is a matter of ideology
The Rada Speaker stated that celebrating church holidays according to the Julian calendar is "no longer remembered by anyone".
The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, stated in a broadcast of the Telethon that the changes in the calendar of church holidays are ideological in nature and intended to define Ukraine's place in the civilized world.
He explained the necessity of the calendar date reform initiated by Volodymyr Zelensky.
"Any historical calendar is a certain calendar map of the state. Any calendar dates are not just about days in the calendar, it's about who we are with and who is against us. And therefore, it is an important ideological thing," Stefanchuk emphasized.
He assured that "today, no one even remembers that just a few years ago we had a completely different calendar plan". Stefanchuk reminded teh audience that Christmas was moved from January 7 to December 25. The Day of the Protection was shifted from October 14 to October 1. St. Nicholas Day is celebrated on December 6 instead of the 19th. The Day of Ukrainian Cossacks was also moved to October 1. The Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine now coincides with St. Nicholas Day – December 6.
According to Stefanchuk, the war revealed several problematic calendar coincidences: "Days of national tragedy coincide with professional holidays. Also, several different dates inherited from the Soviet era and the years of independence are concentrated».
On December 26, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada plans to hold a large meeting with representatives of the government, the President's Office, the Academy of Sciences, the Institute of National Memory, and the public to discuss the logic of building a law on the new calendar system.
Earlier, the UOJ wrote that Zelensky declared January 7 as Programmer's Day.
