A.Different countries, different customs: in large parts of the world people celebrate Christmas, each country has its own traditions and customs. But it is already the second time that Christians celebrate the feast of the birth of Jesus under the conditions of the corona pandemic. Even if the corona situation has improved compared to the previous year, for example vaccine against the corona virus is now available, services could only take place to a limited extent and with significantly fewer visitors. In many places: only vaccinated, convalescent and negative testers.
But also this year Christmas shows itself to be a celebration of humanity. For example in the slums near the Iraqi city of Basra, where the 28-year-old Mohamed Maarouf is distributing gifts to children, as shown in the cover photo of this article.
There are strict corona rules in Kenya: The East African state is introducing 1 G, even if the higher court had prohibited it. Human rights organizations also expressed concern about this. So far, only around 6.5 percent of the Kenyan population have been vaccinated twice, around ten percent have received a first dose. In the Kenyan capital Nairobi, church services could still take place on a smaller scale.
White Christmas in Australia? Rather unlikely. For Tony O’Connor, who actually comes from Manchester in England, but apparently not that wild either. Like many surfers, he went to what is probably the most famous beach in the country, Bondi Beach in Sydney, during the Christmas holidays. The red Santa hat was not to be missed when riding the waves.
Greetings from the wet also come from this diving Santa Claus in Tokyo. During a performance in the Sunshine Aquarium, he provided a surprise with his Christmas outfit and cake: In order to avoid a large crowd in view of the pandemic, the Christmas special from the aquarium in the busy district of Ikebukuro was not officially announced beforehand.
Syrian Orthodox Christians also celebrated mass in Erbil, the center of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. For many Christians and other religious minorities, the city became a place of refuge after the Islamist terrorist militia Daesch (“Islamic State”) took more and more cities in northern Iraq. The city of Erbil withstood the attacks thanks to an alliance between Kurdish fighters and the United States.
After Hinduism, Christianity is the second largest religious minority in Pakistan: of the 207 million inhabitants, only two percent are Christian. Here, too, one is reluctant to do without churches and living rooms richly decorated with lights. The photo shows a service in Karachi, the largest city in the country.
As the birthplace of Jesus, Bethlehem should not be missing from this list. Because of the corona pandemic, the Holy Land is currently lacking guests from abroad, the crowded tourist buses and the tour guides. Especially Christians from the region are now guests, from the congregations in Israel or in the Palestinian autonomous regions. The photo shows the morning Christmas mass in the Katharinenkirche in Bethlehem.
Christmas selfies don’t have to fall by the wayside in New York despite the pandemic. The Christmas tree in front of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan is one of the most beautiful trees in the world in public space and continues to serve as a popular backdrop for snapshots.
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