Ukraine's main Catholic church moves Christmas to Dec. 25 in pivot to West

FILE PHOTO: Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, attends the funeral of its former head, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kiev, Ukraine, June 5, 2017. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

KYIV (Reuters) - Ukraine's main Catholic church said on Monday it would move to a new calendar that would see Christmas celebrated on Dec. 25 rather than Jan. 7, amid an effort by Ukrainian institutions to break cultural links to Russia.

The move by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), which counts just under a tenth of Ukrainians as worshippers, was welcomed by culture minister Oleksandr Tkachenko.