Hundreds of Iranians rushed to an Armenian church in Isfahan on Sunday to celebrate Christmas, which has become popular among Muslims over the past two decades.
Videos posted on social media show a large crowd, made up mainly of young non-Christians, attempting to enter the historic Vank Cathedral. This cathedral is a major tourist attraction in the city, but on this day it had to close its doors to the public an hour earlier than usual. Later, police used force to disperse the young people who were singing and dancing in the street in front of the church.
There was no Christmas service at the cathedral, because unbeknownst to those who had gathered outside, Armenians celebrate the birth of Christ on January 6, following the tradition of Eastern Orthodox Christians .
Crowd trying to force the doors of Vank Cathedral and chanting “Open the door, Jesus!”
For several years, experts have suggested that the growing popularity of Christmas in an Islamic country like Iran is a collective response to government attempts to promote Shiite mourning ceremonies at the expense of celebrating happiness in society. This has also led to a growing disregard for ancient Iranian festivals such as Nowruz (New Year), Yalda (Winter Solstice Festival), and Charshanbeh Souri (end-of-year bonfire festival), all of which are traditionally associated with joyful celebrations.
“What matters to people is life and happiness. (The celebration of Christmas and other Western holidays) is… a reaction to traditional (Shia) culture,” philosopher and university professor Bijan Abdolkarimi told local media in 2020.
Much like Valentine’s Day and Halloween, Christmas has increased in popularity among Muslim Iranians over the past two decades.
Photos published by Iranian media this year show shop windows with beautifully decorated Christmas trees, Santas and Christmas accessories, while people, even women wearing long black veils and their children, take selfies with them. the decorations.
Police use violence against man watching youth dance in front of Vank Cathedral
Claiming that Muslims’ celebration of Christmas has nothing to do with the search for the truth of Christianity or the actual celebration of the birth of Christ, Abdolkarimi called the reaction of Iranian society “a way of expressing disgust and hatred” in the face of the prevalence of religious dogmatism. and control.
For hundreds of years, Espahan, Iran’s third-largest city after Tehran and Mashhad, has been home to a large Armenian community and more than a dozen historic churches.
Like other historic Armenian and Assyrian churches in other parts of Iran, Vank Cathedral, founded in 1606 in the historic New Julfa district of Isfahan, is open to the public on certain days.
Most contemporary churches, however, do not open their doors to non-Christians, especially during worship, for fear of being accused of encouraging the conversion of Muslims to Christianity. Converting from Islam could result in a death sentence for the convert.
Armenians constitute the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran. There are approximately 120,000 Armenian and Assyro-Chaldean Christians in Iran. Unlike converts to Christianitythey enjoy a certain freedom of religion and have their own representatives in parliament.
The importation of Christmas accessories, mainly from China, has been banned for several years and what is offered in stores is imported illegally. Iranian media have for several years reported that Muslim families purchased most of these products.
“There is an unwritten rule (on the sale of Christmas accessories)… You could say it is preaching Christianity… We are still in doubt. We don’t know what is legal and what is not. » the owner of a shop in Tehran told Ensaf News when asked if he had gotten into trouble selling Christmas accessories.
