Orthodox Christmas Celebrations Around the World

Members of the second-largest Christian communion in the world, the Orthodox Church, celebrate Christmas on January 7.

Orthodox Russians, Serbs, Georgians, Poles and Ukrainians, as well as parishioners of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, Eastern Catholic Churches, Coptic Christians and monks of Mount Athos celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar. The latter predates the Gregorian calendar used elsewhere, which was introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII.

Explore Sputnik's photo gallery to find out how Christmas is celebrated by Orthodox Christians all around the globe!

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His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia during the Christmas service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, Russia.

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A Coptic Christian peers out of a window during an Orthodox Christmas Eve Mass at the Church of Ava Bishoy and St. Karas the Anchorite in Cairo, Egypt.

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The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II (R), blesses members of the congregation during a service at Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, as the Armenian Apostolic Church celebrates Christmas, in Yerevan, Armenia.

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People gather during the annual ceremony of bonfire of dried oak branches, the Yule log symbol for the Orthodox Christmas eve according to the Julian calendar, at the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade, Serbia.

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Children holding sticks decorated with stars sing religious songs during a religious service to celebrate Orthodox Christmas in St. Clement Cathedral in Skopje, North Macedonia.

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Orthodox priests walk outside the Nativity Church, where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas in Bethlehem, West Bank.

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His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia during the Christmas service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, Russia.

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Lithuanian Orthodox Church worshippers light candles before the liturgy on Orthodox Christmas Eve in the Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

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Orthodox priests hold a Christmas service at a church in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Christmas service in the Church of Our Savior Not Made by Hands on the territory of the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence.

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Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Teophilos III holds a mass in the Nativity Church, where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas in Bethlehem, West Bank.

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A man throws a branch into the fire as Sarajevo Orthodox Christians attend the annual bonfire of dried oak branches to mark the Orthodox Christmas Eve, at the Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Ethiopian Orthodox worshippers hold candles as they gather to pray ahead of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christmas celebrations at the Bole Medhanialem Church in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

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Nuns visit the Grotto of the Nativity Church, where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas in Bethlehem, West Bank.