IRANIAN CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS IN IRAN
Soudabeh Sadigh
Cultural Heritage News, Iran
Dec 25 2006
Iranian churches are filled with Christians joining to celebrate
Christmas – Picture Courtesy of Fars News Agency Iranian Christians
celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in a somewhat similar fashion as
it is celebrated around the world.
Tehran, 25 December 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) — Decorated Christmas
trees might not be seen in every corner of Iran these days, but the
occasion is celebrated by Iranian Christians every year. This year,
the Iranian Christians have once again prepared themselves to celebrate
the birth of Christ in their homeland by decorating Christmas trees,
exchanging gifts, and attending services.
According to Albert Kochoei, chairman of Assyrian Association of
Tehran or Motva d’ Tehran, considering that Jesus Christ was the
messenger of peace and love, this year Iranian Christians will pray
for the peace and happiness to prevail in the world.
A number of Christian denominations still live in Iran today and
include Assyrians, Armenians, Catholics, Protestants and Evangelical
Christians. Although a minority religious group in Iran, Christians of
Iran are free to practice their religion and perform their religious
rituals.
Christianity arrived in Iran during the Parthian dynastic period
(248 BC- 224 AD). Parthian kings showed great tolerance toward other
religions and Christianity gradually spread in various parts of the
Persian Empire.
The celebration of Christmas on the 25th of December is said to have
originated in ancient Persia and Mithraism and has its roots in the
Mithraist festival of Yalda, the celebration of the birth of Sun God,
Mithra, on the eve of the first day of the winter which falls on 21st
of December.
Over the centuries Mithraism spread to Greece and Ancient Rome via
Asia Minor, gaining popularity within the ranks of the Roman army. In
the 4th century AD as a result of errors made in calculating leap
years and dates, the birthday of Mithra was transferred to 25th of
December. Until then, Christ’s birthday had been celebrated on January
6th by all branches of the Christian Church. However, with the cult
of Mithra still popular in Roman Europe, the Christian Church adopted
many of the Mithraic rituals and proclaimed 25th of December as the
official birthday of Christ. Today the Armenian and Eastern Orthodox
Churches continue to celebrate January 6th, as Christ’s birthday.
"Except for Armenian Christians, other Christian groups in Iran
celebrate 25th of December as the birthday of Jesus. Holding mass
prayers is another ritual that is performed on Christmas Eve in most
Iranian churches," said Kochoei.
According to Dr. Ahmad Nourizadeh who has done a lot of research on
the history of Christians, particularly Armenians in Iran, although
Iranian Armenians who make up the majority of the country’s Christian
population take January 6th as the birth of Christ, large numbers
of Iranian Christians also celebrate the 25th of December along with
other Christians in the world.
Sending an open message to the Christians of the world on the eve
of the auspicious occasion of Christmas, Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad congratulated them on the birthday of "messenger of love
and friendship."
Also to mark the arrival of the Christian New Year, different programs
are organized to be held in the museum of Tehran’s Sa’ad Abad Palace
from 2-4 of January 2007.
Merry Christmas!