Ukraine’s Orthodox Church may change the date of its Christmas

AFTER RUSSIAN soldiers invaded their country in 2014, many Ukrainians began favouring Western holidays over ones associated with Russia. Women’s Day, an originally socialist holiday that took hold in Soviet times, has faded, while the American-made Mother’s Day is in vogue. As the snow piled up in Christmas markets in December, so did the evidence that Santa Claus was displacing the Soviet-era Ded Moroz (“Father Frost”) as the country’s pre-eminent bearded gift-bearer. Weightiest of all is the debate over when to celebrate Christmas itself. Epiphanius I, the head of Ukraine’s Orthodox Church, says he expects his congregants will favour switching from January 7th to December 25th within a decade.