Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo, Lidia Pontecorvo celebrate Christmas in their hometown

Positano: Italy’s ambassador to Pakistan Stefano Pontecorvo and his wife Lidia Pontecorvo celebrated Christmas in their hometown here with the friends and family.

“Merry Christmas from Lidia and myself. Smoking a great cigar and looking at this peaceful panorama after a delicious Christmas lunch with the family. Life is kind,” he tweeted.

The envoy, who is on a leave, said he missed Pakistan and would soon return to work in Islamabad.

Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.

A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it is preceded by the season of Advent or the Nativity Fast and initiates the season of Christmastide, which historically in the West lasts twelve days and culminates on Twelfth Night; in some traditions, Christmastide includes an octave

Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world’s nations and celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians, and forms an integral part of the holiday season centered around it.

The traditional Christmas narrative, the Nativity of Jesus, delineated in the New Testament says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in accordance with messianic prophecies.

When Joseph and Mary arrived in the city, the inn had no room and so they were offered a stable where the Christ Child was soon born, with angels proclaiming this news to shepherds who then further disseminated the information.

Although the month and date of Jesus’ birth are unknown, the church in the early fourth century fixed the date as December 25. This corresponds to the date of the winter solstice on the Roman calendar.

Most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, which has been adopted almost universally in the civil calendars used in countries throughout the world.

However, some Eastern Christian Churches celebrate Christmas on December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which currently corresponds to a January date in the Gregorian calendar.