Why do 250 million Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7?

Al JazeeraCenterEN 2 min read 100% complete by Mohammed HaddadJanuary 7, 2026 at 10:33 AM

AI Summary

medium article 2 min

Around 250 million Orthodox and Eastern Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7th, not because they believe Jesus was born on a different day, but due to their adherence to the Julian calendar. This difference stems from 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar to correct inaccuracies in the Julian calendar, which overestimated the solar year. While most of the world adopted the Gregorian calendar, many Orthodox churches maintained the Julian calendar to preserve their traditions. The Julian calendar is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, causing December 25th on the Julian calendar to fall on January 7th on the Gregorian calendar. These communities are located in Eastern Europe and across the Arab world, such as Palestine and Egypt.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Bethlehem 30% Al Jazeera 40% Palestine 40% Egypt 40% Arab world 50% Eastern Europe 50% Catholic Church 60% Julius Caesar 60% Pope Gregory XIII 70% Jesus Christ ×290%

Keywords

christmas 100% january 7 90% julian calendar 80% gregorian calendar 80% orthodox christians 70% calendar difference 60% eastern christian churches 50% religious traditions 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Neutral

Score: 0.10

Source Transparency

Source

Al Jazeera

Political Lean

Center (0.00)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

Topic Connections

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

Network visualization showing 12 related topics

View Full Graph

christmas january 7 julian calendar gregorian calendar orthodox christians calendar difference eastern christian churches religious traditions

Explore Full Topic Graph