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Ethnologist: in two or three years Ukrainians to celebrate Christmas on December 25

26.12.2017, 09:31
For the first time this year, December 25, the new-style Christmas is a day off. On this day the feast is celebrated in Ukraine, in particular, by some 11,000 religious Catholic and Protestant communities that observe the Gregorian calendar - on December 25. According to the authors of the law, they make up almost a third of all religious organizations in Ukraine.

For the first time this year, December 25, the new-style Christmas is a day off. On this day the feast is celebrated in Ukraine, in particular, by some 11,000 religious Catholic and Protestant communities that observe the Gregorian calendar - on December 25. According to the authors of the law, they make up almost a third of all religious organizations in Ukraine.


However, according to historian and ethnologist Anatoly Momrik, in two or three years, most Ukrainians will celebrate Christmas on the basis of a new calendar, Radio Free Europe reports.


At the same time, he forecasts that this holiday will be no longer religious in nature because it is aimed at the whole of the global commercial industry.


“Ukraine should worry about all of its citizens. The poll shows that, indeed, there are a couple of percent of Roman Catholics and a couple of percent of Protestants, but when the question arises, "Do you think December 25 is a holiday?" - such people in Ukraine are almost 20 percent. That is, there is a huge mass of non-clerical people who do not regularly go to the Orthodox Church, but they perceive this day as a holiday.


In fact, any educated person clearly sees a certain historical absurdity that the Christian world, which must adhere to the same principles, observes, celebrates Christmas according to different calendars.


And it is clear that as long as our neighboring countries have done this much earlier than us, for, let me remind you, Belarus has celebrated Christmas both according to Gregorian and Julian styles already for 15 years, and Moldova already for 2 years, then it is somewhat incorrect for Ukraine to ignore this religious problem when the trend towards Europe is proclaimed.


According to Anatoly Momrik, the number of people who take their day off in order to place a

New Year tree not before the New Year, as it is now the case, but before December 25th, and give their children the gifts on December 25, will be increasing.


“It can be done pretty fast. Already you will see, in 2-3 years Christmas will be celebrated far and wide (on December 25), because this is not a question of religion, but a question of mass culture. This is a business tradition of Western Europe, when all sales and everything else is linked to Western Christmas. This is a question of the fact that all of Western Europe, as well as America, have holidays on these days.


With us, this model of social behavior is being quickly widespread. But again, I will emphasize that this will be a secular holiday. Because, in fact, in the West it is a secular holiday. This is a home-based holiday, and people rarely go to church. And those people who go to church will be stubbornly attending it on January 7. That is, the people who do not go to church, but tell that they are Christians, Orthodox Christians, will celebrate it for the most part on December 25. And only the so-called churchly people will attend on January 7.


We will have such a symbiosis that people will simultaneously celebrate St. Nicholas and put gifts under the pillow on December 19 according to the old style. And December 25 will be celebrated according to the new style. For ordinary people this does not present a problem. They just know that this is a great holiday, and they will celebrate it. And kids will want gifts. On this day the TV will show Christmas stories, Christmas cartoons, everyone will watch it with admiration, and they will not even have the desire to argue with the church, why it does so.”