UOCC: Parishes Are Welcome To Change to New-Julian Calendar
Below you can read the full letter from His Eminence, Metropolitan ILARION, followed by a description about what this means for our parish going forward.
What Does This Mean For Our Parish?
As noted in the letter, each parish will be able to decide whether to change or not, and if changing - when that would be. But first, our parish priests will meet with the parish council (as elected by the membership on April 30, 2023) to discuss options and what this would look like for our parish based on feedback received over the last few months. The goal, as always, is unity.
This meeting will happen Sat. Dec. 2 - so we will let you know soon! Once again, we ask for your prayers.
PRIMATIAL ENCYCLICAL
TO THE PLENITUDE OF THE UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF СANADA:
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ADOPTION OF THE REVISED JULIAN CALENDAR BY THE UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF CANADA
Your Grace Bishop Andriy,
Honourable Father Presbyters & Deacons in Christ, Beloved in Christ Brothers & Sisters!
On 25 August 2023, as part of the process of dealing with Resolution R3 of the XXIII Sobor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and in response to recent decisions on the use of liturgical calendars in our ancestral homeland, Ukraine, I called upon all the Clergy and faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada to participate in a process of discussion and expression of opinions regarding the adoption of the Revised Julian Calendar for regulating the liturgical life of our Church. For my part, I promised to come to a decision regarding the calendar question by 01 December of this year.
It gives me joy to share with you that nearly all of you made the decision to accept your Metropolitan's invitation to participate in this process. The result: almost all parishes who chose to participate forwarded synopses of their gatherings.
Beloved in Christ! I wish to express my deepest appreciation for your decision to work with and support your Metropolitan with your honest and sincere opinions regarding the complex matter of deciding on a calendar to navigate the liturgical life of our Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. Your careful discernment and your desire to help your Metropolitan decide on an appropriate solution has been a great help to me. I wish, therefore, to announce the following blessing on behalf of the Council of Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada:
Effective 20 December 2023, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada will adopt the Revised Julian Calendar as the calendar by which we set the cycle of the liturgical life of our Church. Parishes who have expressed a desire to continue to follow the Julian (Old) Calendar have my blessing to do so. I wish to confirm that no single parish will be compelled to adopt the Revised Julian Calendar immediately if they are not ready to do so.
Furthermore, I bless the publication of the Ecclesiastical Calendar and Typikon (Ustav) on the website of the UOCC, to aid in the transition to the Revised Julian Calendar.
Finally, any questions, concerns or issues of pastoral sensitivity regarding scheduled events in parishes which may be affected by this change should be taken up with the local hierarch directly by the parish/parish district priest affected.
May God grant us all patience, discernment, wisdom and - above all - love throughout the process of making this monumental change. May it be received and integrated into our ecclesiastical life to God's glory and for the salvation of His people, the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada!
With primatial blessings & paternal love in Christ, the Lord,
ILARION, METROPOLITAN
ARCHBISHOP OF WINNIPEG & THE CENTRAL EPARCHY
PRIMATE OF THE UKRAINIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF CANADA
Proclaimed: 01 December 2023
