Orthodox Christians attend church to celebrate Christmas, a holiday darkened for many by the conflict raging between Russia and Ukraine.
abc.net.au/news/orthodox-christmas-celebrations-in-shadow-of-war-in-ukraine/101834680Orthodox Christians have packed churches for Christmas Eve services, a holiday darkened for many by the conflict raging between neighbours Russia and Ukraine.Volodymyr Zelenskyy said while it was traditionally forbidden to sew and hunt during this time, Ukrainians had no choice this year
Kyiv residents ventured out into a light dusting of snow to buy gifts, cakes and groceries for Christmas Eve family celebrations, hours after the ceasefire was to have started.In a video message, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised Ukrainians as "united as never before" and lamented that the conflict had forced many to abandon Christmas folk traditions that prohibit sewing and hunting.
Orthodox Christians conventionally observe Christmas on January 7, but this year, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine agreed to allow faithful to celebrate on December 25. Though most of his traditional Christmas message focused on the position of ethnic Serbs in the predominantly ethnic Albanian Kosovo, the Serbian Patriarch said he was praying for the end of the war in Ukraine, which he said was being fuelled from outside.
Bells pealed over the biblical town of Bethlehem on Friday as crowds holding crosses aloft filed through the rain-soaked streets to mark Orthodox Christmas.Children marched through Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank for the annual scouts parade, playing Palestinian anthems and religious hymns on bagpipes and huge drums.
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