Christians around Australia celebrate Christmas, with a Jewish holiday land on the same day

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Christians around the country have attended church services to mark Christmas day. Religious leaders, charity workers and volunteers reflected on the year, spreading joy and love to those doing it tough all with a bit of Christmas cheer.

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00:00With carols and hymns, many started the day with a traditional service reflecting on the

00:13past year.

00:16From the young to the young at heart, across the country religious leaders offered followers

00:22messages of hope and peace.

00:33If we want to have a sense of hope ourselves, I think we have to be people who try and give

00:37hope to others.

00:39In Melbourne, these pampered poochers attended their own special mass.

00:45Some people aren't happy to put up with the yapping, but yeah, it's part of Christmas,

00:49it's not just how I want it, but it's all us, everyone's welcome.

00:54The jolly man himself dropped by Hobart, where volunteers gave up their Christmas day to

01:00help those in need.

01:01There's so many people doing it tough, and to be able to avail ourselves of this, well,

01:02yeah, it's great.

01:03Absolutely.

01:04Yeah.

01:05And that's what Christmas is all about, getting together for people.

01:18St Nick made time to swing by charity the Les Twentymann Foundation to hand out presents.

01:24This is for families who've not got very much, so this gives them a Christmas day that they

01:29wouldn't ordinarily have.

01:31But the recent loss of the group's founder earlier this year was still raw.

01:36Not seeing Les here is a bit upsetting.

01:39At this charity lunch in Adelaide, a homemade meal was a gift in itself.

01:43If I didn't come here, I wouldn't eat breakfast or lunch anyway.

01:47Australians across the country have marked Christmas in very different ways, including

01:52at big community events like this, where a three-course meal and some live entertainment

01:57is uniting those from all walks of life.

02:03And it wasn't just Christians celebrating, the Jewish community today marked the start

02:08of Hanukkah.

02:09We're going to have multicultural Hanukkah, Pillars of Light, which is a celebration for

02:13all Victorians to come together.

02:17But the cost of living crisis hitting hard, charities say more people are feeling the

02:22pinch.

02:23We're seeing working families, families with children, older Australians who are really

02:27lonely.

02:28So this stuff matters.

02:29I mean, the cost of living and housing crisis are having a profound impact on our community.

02:35Merry Christmas, everyone.

02:36Happy New Year.

02:37Sentiment shared by many, far and wide.

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