TRANSCRIPT
There are more than 200 million members of the Orthodox Church worldwide, spanning Eastern Europe, Egypt, and Ethiopia, and in Australia.
Nik Lukich is a trustee at the St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in Sydney and has been celebrating Christmas alongside the hundreds of millions of Orthodox Christians worldwide.
The Orthodox Church, which follows the Julian Calendar, traditionally celebrates Christmas 12 days after Western churches, though some other variations of Orthodox Christians, like the Armenians, celebrate on the 6th.
Nik Lukich says despite the different dates celebrated, the meaning behind Orthodox Christmas is the same.
"Today is the celebration of the birth of Christ, and we traditionally greet each other with 'Christ is born', and the response is 'truly, indeed he is born'. In Serbian 'Hristos se rodi' 'Vaistinu se rodi'."
With strong traditions and the gathering of community, Orthodox Christmas is celebrated differently in each country but the celebrations, which usually follow a morning church service, are far less commercialised than many in the West.
Nik Lukich says the passing down of traditions through each generation is important to preserve the culture.
"They're absolutely connected to their to their culture and their heritage, and lots of kids, in some cases, we're up to third and fourth generation. My parents arrived here in the 60s. My children now have their children, I have grandchildren, and we try and maintain that culture and the Orthodox faith. We have some families who are up to fifth generation, Australians."
In Serbia, hundreds of worshippers gathered outside St. Luke Orthodox church in Belgrade to burn dried oak branches in a centuries-old tradition symbolising Christ and his entry into the world.
As the fire is lit, people of all ages come closer and throw small branches of dried oak into the large bonfire.
Vladica Stojkovic says it's important the festivities and traditions are handed down.
“This heritage should stay with us. We celebrate it so the children can remember it and it can become their heritage. I inherited these customs from my parents, from my father, my grandfather and so on.”
In neighbouring Romania, a different tradition is being honoured.
On the outskirts of a village in southern Pietrosani, hundreds of Romanian villagers gather to watch the annual horse race and blessing.
The horses, an essential part of life in the village, were blessed earlier in the day by a priest.
Gabriel is a horse owner in the village and says the annual traditions are always followed by celebrations.
‘’I've followed this tradition since I was a kid. My grandfather used to take me here so I started to like the horses. I ended up buying horses, so today I came to our village pasture to baptise our horses. The priest comes for (to bless) them after the religious service at the church, then we all have a horse race and after that we all just stick around and have a good time on this holy day."
But while many are carrying their traditions as normal, others are doing so under the shadow of conflict, unrest, and tragedy.
In Bethlehem, church leaders are carrying out their traditions without the festivities as Israel's assault on Gaza continues.
Greek Orthodox Priest Issa Thaljieh says this has not been a joyful Christmas in Bethlehem.
"Bethlehem today is very sad. For me, it’s important to focus on the prayers and the religious rituals inside the church. We should pray, hoping for better conditions and hoping for better life in the coming days; and for better life for our relatives who are experiencing tough conditions in the war and the destruction, and all the challenges they are facing."
Meanwhile in Georgia, protesters are celebrating Orthodox Christmas on their 40th consecutive day protesting their government's decision to halt talks on joining the European Union.
Georgian Ex-President Salome Zourabichvili was among the protesters.
She says the continued demonstrations through Christmas show how unified the Georgian people are.
"It is not only the Christmas night, it is the night of unity of all Georgians. Unity for their future, unity for the destiny of Georgia to be free, independent and to be European."
In Russia, Vladimir Putin attended the Orthodox Christmas service in Moscow.
The Russian Orthodox Church is the world's largest Orthodox denomination.
Officiating at the service, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, spoke about Russia's military operation in Ukraine.
"Let us ask the Lord that the terrible civil strife that torments the peoples belonging to the united Holy Rus', to historical Rus', will cease on the battlefield. Let us pray that peace and justice will come at the same time. Because peace without justice is not durable and sometimes even dangerous."
In Ukraine, while war ranges on and winter is well and truly underway, dozens are still partaking in the tradition of an icy plunge to celebrate Epiphany.
The tradition sees participants immerse themselves in icy water three times, to mark the baptism of Jesus Christ.
79 year old Roman Tymovchak is the head of the local ice swimmers club in Kyiv.
He says while the numbers have dropped due to the war, many are still continuing the tradition.
“We have people in our community who are more than 80 years old. They are 82, 84, 86. A lot of retired people. There's not that many members in our club due to the war, but there were many more before that. People don’t care about it now. But in order to maintain your health and spirit, sport must be your friend.”
