Metropolitan Epiphanius conducts a liturgy at St Michael’s Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine. Photo CNS/Valentyn Ogirenko, Reuters. In a decision seen as an act of defiance towards the Russian Orthodox Church, which also has the effect of promoting closer ties with Roman Catholics and other Western branches of Christianity, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine has decided to move Christmas to December 25. Traditionally, Ukrainian Christians, the bulk of whom are Orthodox, have…
