There is a movement underway to shift Ukrainian Christmas celebrations from the old Julian calendar on January 7, to the Gregorian calendar on December 25.

Both the Ukrainian Greek Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox churches mark Christmas on January 7, but with the war in Ukraine, there is a desire to move away from the Julian calendar which is promoted by the Russian Orthodox church.

Brother Ivan Dzhur of the Ukrainian Catholic Church who is in Newfoundland training for his ordination in June, says planning is well underway to move to the Gregorian calendar.

He says the heads of both the Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox churches met in early December to start the process to move Christmas to December 25 by 2025. That will coincide with the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea—the first ecumenical council for the Christian churches after Christianity became legal under Constantine.