Roman Catholics, Protestants and followers of 11 Orthodox Churches (including Antioch, Alexandria, Cyprus, Bulgarian, Romanian and the Greek) celebrate Christmas on December 25. Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world's nations. Catholic Christmas celebrations in Russia and abroad - in this photo gallery by TASS.
Catholic Christmas celebrations
Roman Catholics, Protestants and followers of 11 Orthodox Churches (including Antioch, Alexandria, Cyprus, Bulgarian, Romanian and the Greek) celebrate Christmas on December 25
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A nativity scene outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary in Moscow
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS Traditional Christmas Eve Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS People attending a traditional Christmas Eve Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin Mary
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS Paolo Pezzi, Latin Rite Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Moscow
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS After service in Omsk Evangelical Lutheran Church
© Dmitriy Feoktistov/TASS A traditional Christmas Eve Mass at St. Adalbert's Church in Kaliningrad
© Vitaly Nevar/TASS Christmas Eve Mass at St. Adalbert's Church
© Vitaly Nevar/TASS Christmas Eve Mass at St. Adalbert's Church
© Vitaly Nevar/TASS Pope Francis celebrating the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican
© AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia Pope Francis seen during midnight Christmas Mass in Saint Peters Basilica at the Vatican
© EPA/ALESSANDRO DI MEO Kosovo Christians attending the Christmas Eve Mass in Mother Teresa Cathedral in Kosovo capital Pristina
© AP Photo Catholic priests leading the Christmas Eve Mass in Mother Teresa Cathedral in Kosovo capital Pristina
© AP Photo Christmas midnight Mass in Sarajevo's Cathedral, Bosnia
© AP Photo/Amel Emric Thousands of people in front of the city council building in Frankfurt, Germany, gathered to listen to the traditional ringing of the bells
© EPA/FRANK RUMPENHORST
Christmas day mass in a church in Bangkok, Thailand
© EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL Indians lighting candles on the eve of Christmas at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi
© AP Photo/Saurabh Das Chinese choir members singing during a Christmas Eve mass at the Southern Cathedral, an officially-sanctioned Catholic church in Beijing, China
© AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein Iraqi Christians at a Christmas Eve Mass at St. Teresa church in Basra, 550 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, Iraq
© AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani