Serbs Celebrate Christmas Day With Fervour

Serbs have been heading to church for Christmas in large numbers throughout the country with midnight liturgies starting on Thursday evening.

The Serbian Orthodox Church, as well as its Russian, Georgian and other counterparts, celebrates Christmas on January 7, according to the Julian calendar.

In Belgrade, the country's new Patriarch, Irinej, led the mass at St Sava's cathedral. Several thousand worshipers gathered at Serbia's largest Orthodox shrine at midnight, along with government ministers, representatives of other churches and religious communities, and other leading public figures.

A large number of believers, among them members of Orthodox churches from other countries, could not enter the crowded building and clustered round the entrance to follow the service.

Christmas services and ceremonies have continued throughout Friday. The Serbian Church will mark the holiday for three days. Services are also taking place in churches and monasteries in Kosovo.

In the western town of Prizren, the newly enthroned Bishop, Teodosije, conducted a liturgy before a large congregation including Serbia's deputy prime minister, Bozidar Djelic, who used the occasion to repeat that Serbia will never recognise Kosovo's independence.