{"id":70945,"date":"2022-12-29T12:34:52","date_gmt":"2022-12-29T12:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?p=70945"},"modified":"2023-03-22T03:48:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T03:48:19","slug":"how-cardiffs-multicultural-christians-celebrate-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2022\/12\/29\/how-cardiffs-multicultural-christians-celebrate-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"How Cardiff\u2019s multicultural Christians celebrate Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I took a look inside four Cardiff churches to find out how different communities mark the festival, and it’s not what I expected<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

FEWER people in the UK identify as Christian, according to the recent census<\/a> – and many people seem to forget that Christmas is traditionally a religious festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf are the Welsh local authorities with the fewest Christians, tied at 36.4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/13034913\/<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

And Cardiff isn’t too far off – only 38.3% of people identify as Christian here, and 42.9% as non-religious. There are more non-religious people in Cardiff than there are Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n

https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/13128307\/<\/div>\n\n\n\n

We often see Christmas as a time to indulge in junk food, ignore work emails, and binge-watch our favourite Hugh Grant movies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for Cardiff\u2019s diverse Christian population, traditions look very different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Community Centre, Llandaff<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Historically, churches around the world celebrated Jesus\u2019 birth on January 6 until the fourth century, but the Armenian Apostolic Church still insists on this date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because December 25 was traditionally designated for the Roman festival Sol Invicti, celebrating the birth of the sun god.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few pagan traditions remain today because of the Christian presence, explains Alice Kanekanian, 50, who is part of the church community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe still celebrate the pagan Vardavar festival on July 16,” said the Cardiff council employee. “This involves drenching each other with water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To encourage Christianity\u2019s expansion in the West, Christmas Day was moved to December 25, rather than competing with the popular Roman holiday. <\/p>\n\n\n

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