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CELEBRATING ORTHODOX CHRISTMAS WITH RUSSIA

MOSCOW, January 6 (RIA Novosti, Olga Lipich) - The Georgian, Jerusalem and Serbian Orthodox Churches, as well as Afon monasteries living in line with the old-time Julian calendar, are to celebrate Christmas together with the Russian Orthodox Church in the early hours of January 7. This was disclosed to RIA Novosti today by arch-priest Nikolai Balashov, secretary for contacts between Orthodox churches of the Moscow Patriarchate.

In his words, all other 11 Orthodox churches have already celebrated Christmas in the early hours of December 25 together with the Roman Catholic Church.

However, they are using the so-called New Julian calendar, rather than the "Catholic" Gregorian calendar, Balashov noted. The New Julian calendar still coincides with the Gregorian calendar; however, a one-day difference will accumulate by the year 2800, Balashov added.

Pope Gregory XIII implemented a calendar reform in the sixteenth century, replacing the Julian calendar with the Gregorian calendar (that was named after the Holy Pontiff). That reform aimed to adjust the growing gap between the astronomical year and the calendar year.

With this in mind, Orthodox churches held their conference in 1923 on the initiative of the Patriarch of Constantinople, deciding to modify the Julian calendar. Due to historical circumstances, the Russian Orthodox Church was unable to attend that conference.

Patriarch Tikhon issued a resolution on the switch-over to the New Julian calendar, after learning about the Constantinople conference. According to Balashov, this caused protests and dissent among believers. Consequently, that resolution was declared null and void less than a month later.

In Balashov's words, a one-day difference between the Julian calendar and the astronomical year accumulates once in every 128 years. Meanwhile the break-down for the Gregorian calendar and the New Julian calendar is 3,333 years and 40,000 years, respectively.

Nonetheless, the Russian Orthodox Church has no intention of switching over to a new calendar at this stage, Balashov noted. Our believers cherish the Julian calendar, which is a specific feature of our culture life, Balashov said in conclusion.