In pictures: Orthodox Christmas

Orthodox Christians have been celebrating the birth of Christ, nearly a fortnight after the same occasion in the western church's calendar. Millions of believers gathered for church services all over the former Soviet Union, eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Muscovites celebrated by lighting candles in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

Yasser Arafat - himself a Muslim - prayed alongside Palestinian Orthodox Christians at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity

Egypt's Copts attended a midnight mass at Cairo Cathedral

Christmas Eve in Belgrade: Serbian Patriarch Pavle blessed a priest

Priests from Montenegro's pro-independence church broke bread in the old capital, Cetinje

While just down the road, pro-Serb Christians burned traditional yule logs

A Macedonian woman lit candles in Skopje