On Christmas Eve, outdoorsman and TV personality Bear Grylls took to his X account to make a misleading statement about the birth of Christ, calling Mary "a Palestinian girl" and claiming that she and Joseph were “refugees” when they traveled to Bethlehem. This inaccurate portrayal, which Grylls used to advance a political narrative, quickly garnered backlash.
Priests with the Church of England have reportedly been told to change the lyrics of Christmas hymns to avoid "causing unnecessary offence," according to a report from The Telegraph.
For the first time since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad's regime earlier this month, Syrian Christians attended Christmas Eve services in Damascus under the governance of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).