Christmas
New date, same traditions: Ukraine’s wartime Christmas celebrations
By Iryna Voloshyna — December 21, 2023
(The Conversation) — An expert on Ukrainian music and folklore explains how holiday traditions celebrate both centuries of culture and present-day resistance.
Convent-made delicacies, a Christmas favorite, help monks and nuns win fans and pay the bills
By Giovanna Dell'orto and MarÍa Teresa HernÁndez — December 19, 2023
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Most nuns and monks involved in preparing the delicacies are quick to point out that their main mission is to pray, not to cook — and that doing both involves finding a delicate balance.
Christmas celebrations canceled, Christians in the Holy Land still find hope in the season
By Daoud Kuttab — December 18, 2023
AMMAN, Jordan (RNS) — 'Do not let death rejoice in its victory over us,' said one writer.
Leaning into the hope of Advent when the world feels so dark
By Knox Thames — December 15, 2023
(RNS) — Human rights advocates are experiencing a painful purgatory of in-betweenness.
Hanukkah: It’s complicated (especially this year)
By Joshua Hammerman — December 8, 2023
(RNS) — It will be a subdued Hanukkah this year, no doubt.
When is St. Nicholas Day? And how did this Christian saint inspire the Santa Claus legend?
By Luis Andres Henao — December 6, 2023
NEW YORK (AP) — The legends surrounding jolly old St. Nicholas — celebrated annually on Dec. 6 — go way beyond delivering candy and toys to children.
This Christmas, churches are preparing for a frenzy of festivity
By Fiona André — December 1, 2023
(RNS) — You think you have a busy Christmas? The country's best-attended churches are managing a crush of Masses this year.
Bethlehem pastors arrive in DC, urge lawmakers to embrace cease-fire, peace plan
By Jack Jenkins — November 27, 2023
(RNS) — 'All we want for Christmas is a constant and comprehensive cease-fire and an end to this war,' said the Rev. Munther Isaac, pastor of Bethlehem’s Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church.
Bulgarians celebrate Epiphany with traditional rituals
By Associated Press — January 6, 2023
SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Thousands of young men are plunging into rivers and lakes across Bulgaria to retrieve crucifixes, in an old ritual marking the feast of Epiphany.
Bethlehem rebounds from pandemic, lifting Christmas spirits
By Maya Alleruzzo, Jalal Bwaitel, and Hannah Schoenbaum — December 27, 2022
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Tourism is the economic lifeblood of this town in the occupied West Bank, where for the past two years the pandemic kept international visitors away.
Some Ukrainians move up Christmas to part ways with Russia
By Renata Brito and Hanna Arhirova — December 27, 2022
BOBRYTSIA, Ukraine (AP) — Some Orthodox Ukrainians have decided to observe Christmas on Dec. 25, like many Christians around the world. Yes, this has to do with the war, and yes, they have the blessing of their local church.
Pope’s lament: Icy winds of war buffet humanity at Christmas
By Frances D'emilio — December 27, 2022
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis used his Christmas message Sunday to make an impassioned plea for an immediate end to the fighting in Ukraine, a 10-month-old conflict he decried as “senseless.”
Stuck at the border, migrants find a little Christmas cheer
By Giovanna Dell'orto and Morgan Lee — December 27, 2022
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — Across the U.S.-Mexican border in El Paso, Texas, shelters are already packed beyond capacity, leaving little time for celebrations and many migrants camped out in the streets in below freezing weather.
Who is at the manger? Nativity sets around the world show each culture’s take on the Christmas story
By Kayla Harris and Neomi De Anda — December 24, 2022
(The Conversation) — The Christmas story is about Jesus coming to mankind. As holiday decorations show, Christians around the world often picture him in their own cultures.
How American Hindus spend Christmas
By Syama Allard — December 23, 2022
(RNS) — Hindu Americans come from many different backgrounds and have numerous approaches to the holiday.
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