Millions of Christians celebrate Christmas today, which again this year is overshadowed by the wars in the Gaza Strip, Ukraine and many other parts of the world.

Christmas with missile attacks in Ukraine

Ukraine – which for the second consecutive year celebrates Christmas on December 25, as in the West, and no longer on January 7 according to the old calendar followed by the Russian Orthodox Church – woke up this morning to a massive missile attack from Russia.

An air alert was sounded across the country in the early hours, while Russian missiles were fired at Kharkiv, the major city in eastern Ukraine, and at many of the country’s energy infrastructures.

President Zelensky spoke of an inhumane Russian attack on Christmas Day.

Wednesday, December 25, 2024: Rescue crews search for survivors in the rubble of an apartment building hit by a Russian missile, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine.

Kiev

Tuesday, December 24, 2024: In Kyiv, dozens of civilians took shelter in an underground metro station during a rocket attack

oycrania

Ukrainian soldiers prepare Christmas Eve dinner at a front-line shelter in Dnipropetrovsk

Silent Christmas in Bethlehem

The war in Gaza overshadowed Christmas night for another year in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, cradle of Christianity in the occupied West Bank, where a few hundred worshipers gathered in and around the Church of the Nativity.

Bethlehem

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, carries the baby Jesus during the midnight Christmas mass at the Church of the Nativity,

Bethlehem

Catholic nuns pray during the midnight Christmas mass at the Church of the Nativity,

Bethlehem – which is only about 10 kilometers from Jerusalem, on the other side of the wall – is struggling to enjoy this year’s Christmas, which for the second year is “silent” without the thousands of pilgrims of previous years.

A large Christmas tree has been put up for Christmas in the adjacent Manger Square, but like last year, the local authorities have decided not to organize large festive events.

Bethlehem

Yesterday afternoon the city came alive with scouts who marched carrying banners with messages such as: ‘Stop the genocide in Gaza now’ and ‘Our children want to play and laugh’

At Gaza Strip, hundreds of Christians gathered in Church of the Holy Familyin Gaza City, in the northern part of the war-torn Palestinian enclave, for the Christmas service.

“This Christmas smells of death and destruction,” according to George Al Saheh, who had taken refuge for weeks to escape the bombs in the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyry. “There is no joy, no festive spirit. We don’t even know if we’ll survive until next Christmas,” he said.

In a message yesterday to Christians around the world, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to fight against the “forces of evil”.

“You have stood by us with endurance, steadfastness and strength as Israel defends our civilization against barbarism,” added Netanyahu, whose country has been fighting on many fronts since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip.

The Christians of Syria are afraid

In Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown on December 8, the new Islamist authorities wanted to reassure the Christians, in this country with a predominantly Sunni population.

SYRIA

Tuesday, December 24, 2024: Worshipers have gathered outside the monastery of Sednaya, on the outskirts of Damascus, for the lighting of the Christmas tree

Syria

Few believers attend the Christmas service at the Greek Orthodox monastery of Agia Thekla, in Maaloula, about 60 km. north of Damascus

“It was not easy under the current circumstances to gather and pray with joy, but thank God, we managed,” Sarah told AFP, who attended the service at the Syrian Orthodox Cathedral of St. George in Damascus.