Orthodox Christians all over Russia have been marking Christmas with processions and midnight services.<br /><br />The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill held Mass at Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral in a service attended by Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev.<br /><br />He began the celebrations by carrying a reliquary flown in from Greece earlier in the day said to contain gold, frankincense and myrrh presented by the three wise men to the baby Jesus.<br /><br />President Vladimir Putin marked the occasion in Sochi at the new cathedral of the Image of Christ the Saviour – built especially in time for the Winter Olympics. <br /><br />Chilly temperatures did little to diminish the air of defiance among Ukraine’s anti-government demonstrators who celebrated Orthodox Christmas Eve at the central Kiev square they have occupied since last autumn.<br /><br />In Bethlehem, meanwhile, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III celebrated at the Church of the Nativity. The Patriarch was greeted by marching bands in Manger Square.<br /><br />Christian tradition has the Nativity Church as the birthplace of Jesus and Christmas is celebrated by most denominations at the Bethlehem church.
