Serbs headed to church for Christmas in huge numbers throughout Serbia, with midnight liturgy starting on Thursday evening, according to the Balkan Insight website. The Serbian Orthodox Church celebrated Christmas on January 7, based on the Julian Calendar.
In Belgrade, Serbia'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.
The Serbian Church marks the holiday for three days. Christmas services are also taking place in churches and monasteries in Kosovo, a former Serbian province that seceded from Serbia in 2008, and declared itself an independent nation.
In the western Kosovo 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 recognize Kosovo's independence.
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