Some religious and political ideologies opposed Christmas in European history, and festive traditions have proved divisive across the continent at times.
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00:00Why do Europeans celebrate Christmas on different days?
00:09The difference in dates stems from the fact that the Catholic Church and some Orthodox churches
00:16follow separate calendars. In
00:201582 Pope Gregory XIII
00:23tweaked the Julian calendar, which had been introduced by the Romans, but slightly
00:29miscalculated the length of a year.
00:31The new Gregorian calendar is now 13 days ahead of the old Roman system.
00:38Orthodox Christians, however, kept using the ancient calendar,
00:43meaning that the 25th of December for them falls on the 7th of January for those following the Western calendar.
00:51Some Orthodox communities, such as Romania, Albania,
00:56Greece,
00:57Bulgaria, and Cyprus adjusted to the Gregorian calendar and now celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December.
01:05But the more conservative ones, like those in Russia, Serbia,
01:10Belarus, Georgia, and Moldova, still celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January.
01:17In 2023,
01:19following the Russian invasion,
01:21Ukraine, which used to follow the same schedule as Moscow, shifted its Christmas day to the 25th of December.