Name: Ethiopias Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas Eve in Addis Ababa
Uploaded: 2026-01-07T09:57:27.865Z
Duration: 1 min 14 s
Description: Thousands of Orthodox Christians in white traditional attire celebrated Christmas Eve with a Mass, prayers and hymns during a candlelight ceremony in Ethiopia’s capital.

Thousands of Orthodox Christians in white traditional attire celebrated Christmas Eve with a Mass, prayers and hymns during a candlelight ceremony in Ethiopia’s capital.

Addis Ababa

Thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians celebrated Christmas Eve with a candlelight ceremony at Mezcal Square in Addis Ababa, followed by an all-night church service. The observance marks the end of 43 days of fasting and is held according to the Julian calendar, which is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar used by many other Christian denominations.

During the event, speakers highlighted the Christian values of peace and equality, urging followers to embrace these teachings. The celebrations occurred as Ethiopia continues to face internal security challenges, with ongoing ethnic-based insurgencies in the Amhara and Oromia regions despite the end of the Tigray conflict in 2022.

Ethiopia's Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas Eve in Addis Ababa

Thousands of Orthodox Christians dressed in white celebrated Christmas Eve in Addis Ababa's Mezcal Square on Tuesday. The candlelight ceremony in Ethiopia's capital was followed by an all-night church service marking the end of 43 days of fasting. Ethiopian Orthodox Christians follow the Julian calendar, which runs 13 days later than the Gregorian calendar used by Catholics and Protestants. The concept of Christianity is based on Jesus Christ, which is the one who preached us the happiness, the desire of peace and equality for all human beings. So we have to follow that if we want to have peace in the whole world so that we have to follow the preacher of Jesus Christ. Ethiopia itself has had little peace this year. The war in the Tigray region ended in 2022, but the country's two largest regions, Amhara and Oromia, are facing ethnic-based insurgencies that threaten internal security.

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