Observance of Christmas by country

Pope Francis has kicked off global Christmas celebrations with a call for peace, as Israel's war on Gaza and Russia's invasion of Ukraine cast a shadow over one of the world's favourite holidays.

Many Ukrainians will on Monday celebrate Christmas Day on Dec. 25 for the first time, after the government changed the date from the Orthodox Church observance of Jan. 7 in a snub to Russia.

Ukraine passed a law in July moving the celebration to Dec. 25, the day when most of the Christian world marks Christmas.

At the most wonderful time of the year, there is one tradition that John Maguire remembers fondly: his Liverpudlian grandmother trying to scare the daylights out of him.

Without much money for Christmas celebrations, he and his family leaned instead on a centuries-old form of festive entertainment on the cold and dark evenings.

British overseas territory had been left out of deal announced on Christmas Eve

We are celebrating Christmas Eve today! This is the day before the Nativity. According to the biblical prophecy, on Christmas Eve the labor pains of the Virgin Mary, which began on Ignazhden (20 December), ended. The holiday is dedicated to home and the family reunites for dinner to wait together for the birth of the Son of God. On Christmas Eve, the 40-day Christmas fasting ends.

St Paul's Anglican Church has arranged to hold its Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services online via Zoom this year. For details and registration codes, visit anglicanchurchathens.gr, where copies of the service sheet will also be posted.

The rules based on which citizens will celebrate the holiday season and churches will operate were published in the government gazette on Tuesday.

Based on the law, which will be in effect from December 13 to January 7, 2021, gatherings at homes on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day will be limited to a maximum of nine people from two families.