Orthodox Christians filled churches Saturday evening for Christmas Eve services, a holiday overshadowed by conflict for many believers.
Traditions vary, but the main worship of Orthodox Christians generally takes place on Christmas Eve, January 7.
Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, the world’s largest Orthodox denomination, led elaborate and well-attended religious services at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In ornately decorated vestments, dozens of priests and officiants took part, swinging smoking censers and chanting the liturgy.
In his Christmas message, broadcast just before Saturday evening’s service, Kirill spoke on the theme of sacrificial love, noting that Jesus Christ “saved us from the wrong path in life, from the wrong direction of life.” .
He also called for prayers for Russia, so that “no foreign ill will can disrupt the peaceful course of life.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin was joined by the families of servicemen who died in Ukraine’s war during Christmas Eve services at his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, a western suburb of Moscow.
In a statement praising Orthodox Christians, Putin highlighted the “efforts of religious organizations aimed at supporting our heroes, participants in the special military operation,” as the Kremlin refers to Russia’s efforts in Ukraine.
Authorities said around a million people were expected to attend church in the Russian capital. But night services were canceled in the Russian border town of Belgorod due to the “operational situation”, Mayor Valentin Demidov said.
Ukrainian attacks in Belgorod on Dec. 30 killed 25 people, officials said, making it one of the deadliest strikes on Russian soil since Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine years ago. almost 23 months. Rocket and drone attacks on the city continued throughout this week.
Russians and Orthodox people in some other countries celebrate Christmas on January 7.
But Ukraine, which is a predominantly Orthodox country, officially celebrated Christmas this year as a public holiday on December 25. The change, enacted in a law signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky in July, reflects Ukrainians’ dismay over the nearly 23-month-old child. The Russian invasion and the assertion of a national identity.
In neighboring Belarus, Christmas is officially celebrated with public holidays on December 25 and January 7.
Around 80% of believers are Orthodox, belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church, while around 14% are Catholic, living mainly in the west, north and center of the country.
President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 30 years, calls himself an “orthodox atheist.” He usually attends Christmas Eve services and lights a candle in an Orthodox church.
He wished Orthodox Christians a Merry Christmas, saying he was “convinced that by preserving the Orthodox traditions of mercy and moral purity, we will together create the best future for our native Belarus.”
Orthodox believers in Serbia marked the day by burning oak branches during services in front of churches and temples, including hundreds of people gathered at the Temple of St. Sava, the largest Orthodox church in the Balkans.
The young oak symbolizes Christ and his entry into the world, according to a centuries-old tradition led by the priests of the Serbian Orthodox Church. As the fire was lit, dozens of people of all ages threw small dried oak branches into the large bonfire.
“In these difficult times, we must come together in unity and cultivate peace, love and respect for each other,” Mica Jovanovic, a Belgrade resident, told the Associated Press.
Celebrations in the Middle East were overshadowed by another conflict: the war between Israel and Hamas.
In Bethlehem, where Orthodox Christmas Eve usually attracts tens of thousands of tourists to visit the traditional birthplace of Jesus, about 100 observers gathered in Manger Square. They were almost outnumbered by the police and clergy.
Christmas festivities were canceled in this West Bank city after the leaders of Jerusalem’s main churches asked their congregations to “renounce any unnecessarily festive activities” in light of the fighting in Gaza, sparked by the shock attack of Hamas in Israel on October 7, when terrorists killed several people. 1,200 people and took 240 others hostage in Gaza.
The majority of Christians in the region are Palestinians, and Christian leaders have called on observers to spend the holiday praying for peace and an end to the war.
Despite the cancellation of the festivities, Church leaders nevertheless gathered to welcome the arrival of patriarchs from different Orthodox churches – Greek, Coptic and Ethiopian – and a customary procession of Boy Scouts passed through Bethlehem, but without the usual fanfare . A midnight mass was planned.
Samir Qumseyeh, a Palestinian Christian and founder of a Christian television channel, has been filming the celebrations since 1996. He said this year’s celebration was even more low-key than at the height of the second Intifada, when Israeli forces sealed off parts of the West Bank. in response to Palestinian terrorists who carried out suicide bombings and other attacks that killed Israeli civilians.
“Even during the Intifada, celebrations and joy were still there,” Qumseyeh said. “But this year I feel very, very, very sad. But I understand why Church leaders had to do this. You cannot show your joy when the people of Gaza are suffering. »
In Iraq, many Christians canceled Christmas and New Year celebrations in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, as well as in a continued act of mourning for the victims of a deadly fire that killed more than 100 people during a wedding in the predominantly Christian Hamdaniya neighborhood of northern Iraq in September.
Dozens of Iraqi Armenian Orthodox Christians attended Christmas Eve mass in Baghdad, but the celebration was limited to Christmas prayers and rituals.
“In 2023, we have gone through many crises, including the tragedy of Hamdaniya of which the whole world was informed, as well as Gaza and our brothers in Palestine,” said Gebre Kashikian, pastor of the Armenian Church in Baghdad, during Mass.
In Istanbul, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I presided over the ceremony of blessing the waters on the Golden Horn. Tradition has it that the patriarch throws a wooden cross into the cove, which nearly 50 swimmers competed to retrieve this year.
Kostas Kypros, from Alexandroupoli, Greece, came out of the water holding the crucifix. “I am very happy. I wish everyone the best. I was lucky and removed the cross,” Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said.
Earlier, members of Istanbul’s small Greek Orthodox community and visitors from neighboring Greece attended an Epiphany ceremony led by Bartholomew I at the Patriarchal Church of St. George in Istanbul’s Fener district .
Bartholomew I is considered the “first among equals” among the patriarchs of Eastern Orthodoxy and the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians.
The patriarchy dates from the 1,100-year-old Greek Orthodox Byzantine Empire, which ended in 1453 when Muslim Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople, now Istanbul.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
