Government meetings on Orthodox Christmas decried

By Bill Toland, Times Staff January 03, 2002
(Beaver County, Pennsylvania)

HARMONY TWP. - State law says that borough and township officials must convene on the first Monday to choose officers and take oaths, unless the first Monday of the month is a holiday.

But what state law really means, according to John Provich Jr., is that officials must convene on the first Monday of the month, unless that Monday is a holiday celebrated by a majority of people.

And Christian Orthodox Christmas, for most governments, doesn't fall into that category.
Provich, a Serbian Harmony Township resident who practices the Christian Orthodox religion, takes offense that Harmony and virtually all other municipalities have reorganization meetings scheduled for Monday.

Jan. 7 is the day many in the Christian Orthodox religion observe as Jesus Christ's birthday.
Provich also says it's disrespectful that most local governments would postpone a meeting for a holiday like New Year's, but not for one like Christian Orthodox Christmas. If the first Monday in January falls on New Year's Day, reorganization meetings are generally postponed one day.

"The Orthodox Christmas observance is much older than the non-Orthodox observance," Provich said Wednesday. "And it's not as if we're talking about making an exception for a single religion." Different denominations of the Orthodox religion are practiced by Greeks, Russians, Ukrainians and Serbs.

In a letter to Harmony Township Commissioners, Provich asked commissioners to postpone the meeting. The commissioners said the meeting wouldn't be postponed.

"To convene the Harmony Township 2002 reorganization meeting on Jan. 7 would not only demonstrate a tremendous disrespect for the religious beliefs of the ... minority interests, but it would subject the township of Harmony to charges of religious indifference," Provich wrote.

"This same meeting, or any other Harmony Township meeting, would never be convened on the Dec. 25 observance of the birth of Jesus Christ."

Census 2000 numbers concerning the ethnic and religious makeup of Beaver County municipalities aren't available yet, but Provich estimated that about 40 percent of residents who regularly attend the township meetings observe Jan. 7 as their Christmas.

Countywide, about 10 percent of residents claim Serbian, Croatian or other Eastern European heritage.

One commissioner said the township doesn't mean to slight the Orthodox religion.

"My personal opinion, there is the separation of church and state," said township Commissioner John Cermak. "As a township, we follow only the holidays that are recognized by the state.

"If Mr. Provich feels that we have offended him, we are sorry about that."

State-written borough and township bylaws concerning reorganization meetings don't name a specific holiday, and are open to interpretation, said Midland borough Manager Roger Havey, formerly Harmony's manager. That's why Midland's council has chosen to postpone its reorganization meeting until Tuesday.

"The law says the meeting may be postponed in the event of a legal holiday," said Havey. "We interpret the Orthodox Christmas as a legal holiday, because (the Dec. 25) Christmas is a legal holiday. The law doesn't differentiate between holidays."

Even if someone challenged Midland's decision to postpone the meeting on the grounds that Orthodox Christmas isn't a "legal" holiday, the state could not impose fines or sanctions on a municipality for holding its meeting a day late.
"All it means is that we can't conduct any business until we reorganize," Havey said.
While some Orthodox Christians still celebrate the Nativity of Jesus according to the Julian calendar, which places Christmas on Jan. 7, most Orthodox Christians in the United States observe the holiday according to the Revised Julian calendar, or Gregorian secular calendar, which places Christmas on Dec. 25.

What would Jesus think? Would He be offended if there were a democratically elected committee meeting on His birthday? I don't think so.

If it were Good Friday and we were supposed to be fasting and in church, then I'd say sure-- raise a stink.

But for Christmas? Most folks do the Church activity the night before and/or early that morning. By afternoon, they're (maybe) having dinner or whatever. And when OC Christmas falls on a 'work day', most folks generally go to work and intersperse the celebration with their other activities. It doesn't take away from the feast. It just forces folks to make decisions about their day-to-day life and their religious observations. Sometimes, it's a good thing to have to make a choice. The "see where your treasure lies" sort of thing.

Blessings to our OC friends! Happy Christmas to you all. (And may Santa Nicholas be good to all his good children.)

Dear Friends,

As an Old Calendarist Eastern Catholic, I agree.

I once quit my job over this issue, as my boss refused to allow me to take the OC Christmas off.

For me, there is a substantial difference between "Christmas" and the Feast of the Nativity.

Yes, I attend evening Liturgy on January 6th.

I find it so moving and wonderful that I usually can't get to sleep after coming home.

To celebrate the coming of God in the Flesh . . . who can sleep?

And when are the OCA and Byzantine Catholics of America returning to the Old Calendar?

You guys should show solidarity with the ancient ways . . .

Gleefully,

Alex