Metropolitan Germanus of Demetrias published a flyer in May 1935 announcing that he and two other hierarchs had returned to using the old Julian calendar. They took this step because the State Church of Greece had introduced the Gregorian calendar and disregarded Orthodox traditions. Metropolitan Germanus stated that he and the other hierarchs would collaborate with other Orthodox churches that still used the Julian calendar, such as those of Jerusalem, Antioch, Mount Sinai, Mount Athos, Russia, Poland, and Serbia. He urged priests and laity to stand fast in the Orthodox traditions and maintain the Julian calendar.