Orthodox Christmas Decorations Come Out as 300 Million Celebrate January Holiday

Just when most of us have packed away our Christmas decorations, Orthodox Christians are pulling out theirs. According to BBC News, more than 200 million Christians worldwide are celebrating this week’s Orthodox Christmas, a tradition that might seem like odd timing to some, but has a fascinating story behind it.

The whole reason for this January jubilee? It’s actually a centuries-old disagreement about calendars, of all things. Think of it as the ultimate scheduling conflict – while Orthodox Christians agree on Christmas being December 25th, they’re working off an ancient calendar system that puts them 13 days behind the rest of the world. For some Christians who are not Orthodox, it just extends the holiday season.

The number of people celebrating this “late” Christmas is impressive. Estimates are between 225 and 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide celebrate this later Christmas. That’s about 12% of all Christians worldwide celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ in January rather than December.

But cultural pressure is causing fewer Orthodox churches to participate. In France, about 80% of Orthodox parishes have abandoned the January date in favor of December, following the Gregorian calendar date. But in countries like Israel, Russia, Egypt and Ethiopia, the January celebration still rules for most, as reported by Metro Voice News, harkening back over 1,000 years. While the West is dealing with credit card bills, this small segment of Christianity is focused on the celebration, and without the commercialization that for many, has diluted the true meaning of the season.

It really makes you think about what a holiday actually means. Christmas isn’t just some random day in winter – it’s a rolling worldwide celebration that crosses borders and time zones, cultures and war zones, proving that maybe the “when” matters a lot less than the “why.”

As one famous Greek Christmas carol says, “Ke tou Chronou, Hronia Polla”, which means “May we be well again to celebrate next year and for many years to come”.

–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice