Merry Christmas to "Old Calendarists"

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

Merry Christmas to anyone of the Eastern Orthodox faith still among the “Old Calendarists” using the Julian calendar. By that reckoning, today is Dec. 25. The “modern” Gregorian calendar was promulgated in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII. The update was needed to keep the Western church calendar in step with the seasons by imposing a new leap year system. Most Western countries had adopted it by the 18^th century. The Julian calendar has now fallen 13 days behind the Gregorian.

(AP PHOTO: Mikhail Metzel, 2010)