Hong Kong: Young children hold Christingles, meaning "Christ Lights", during a festive church service on Christmas Eve in Hong Kong, on December 24, 2013. The services derive from a Moravian custom of distributing lit candles to children on Christmas Eve in order to celebrate Christ, the light of the world. A Christingle is made of an orange, representing the world, with a red ribbon around it representing the blood of Jesus. Fruits and sweets are skewered onto cocktail sticks which are pushed into the orange representing the fruits of the earth and the four seasons. A lit candle is finally pushed into the center of the orange representing Christ, the light of the world. #

Hawaii: A Hawaiian Santa ornament sits atop a Christmas tree being decorated by Staci Kennedy, of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 25, 2013. #

Indonesia: Christian worshipers attend a Christmas prayer in Surabaya, on December 25, 2013. Indonesian Christians celebrated Christmas amid a warning on December 12 from Indonesian police that Islamic extremists may be planning to target worshippers during Christmas and New Years celebrations in the capital Jakarta and other parts of the country. #

Bethlehem: A Christian worshiper uses her iPad to take photos during a Christmas mass at the Church of the Nativity, on December 25, 2013. Every Christmas pilgrims travel to the church where a gold star embedded in the floor marks the spot where Jesus was believed to have been born. #

Boston: Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston, serves meals during a Christmas Eve luncheon for homeless guests at the Pine Street Inn in Boston, on December 24, 2013. #

Seattle: Children clamber onto an 18-foot tall troll sculpture sporting a giant Santa hat under Highway 99 at the Aurora Bridge in Seattle, on December 24, 2013. The sculpture, built in 1990 of steel rebar, wire and concrete, clutches an actual Volkswagen Beetle and sports a hubcap as an eye, but is usually bare-headed. The figure is often referred to as the "Fremont Troll." #

South Korea: Employees dressed as Santa Claus perform as part of a shopping mall's Christmas celebrations in Seoul, South Korea, on December 24, 2013. Many South Korean companies take advantage of Christmas to promote their business amid weak sales and economic slowdown. #

Bulgaria: A woman lights a candle during a Christmas mass in the golden-domed Alexander Nevsky cathedral in central Sofia, on December 25, 2013. Bulgaria, unlike some other fellow Orthodox countries, celebrates Christmas on December 25. #

Pakistan: Pakistani Christian Salamat Masih prepares a scene of nativity for Christmas celebrations in the slums of Islamabad, Pakistan, on December 24, 2013. Christians are a minority in Pakistan, about 1.6% of the population. #

Australia: Lucy O'Grady hugs her little sister Poppie O'Grady, to keep her warm as the visitors from Birmingham in the United Kingdom celebrate Christmas Day at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on December 25, 2013. #

Los Angeles: Faith Callion, 8, smiles as she sits with Santa Claus at the Los Angeles Mission's Christmas meal service and toy giveaway at skid row in Los Angeles, California, on December 24, 2013. #

Bethlehem: Girls wearing traditional Palestinian costumes take part in a Christmas procession at Manger Square in front of the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, on December 24, 2013. #

Philippines: Children line up to receive a Christmas gift from volunteers near a giant lantern with the colors of the Philippine flag, in Tacloban, Philippines, on December 25, 2013. This year, Christmas is a celebration amid deprivation, in tents, makeshift homes and damaged churches in the city devastated by the November 8 typhoon Haiyan. #

New York: Cardinal Timothy Dolan speaks to inmates of Rikers Island Correctional Facility at a service held for inmates the day before Christmas in New York, on December 24, 2013. #

Hong Kong: A couple dressed as Santa Claus deliver candies to visitors at the waterfront of Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong during Christmas eve as they celebrate the festival season, on December 24, 2013. #

India: Indian Christians light candles at a Christmas Day service outside the St. Mary's church in Siliguri on December 25, 2013. Despite Christians forming a little over two percent of the billion plus population in India, with Hindus comprising the majority, Christmas is celebrated with fanfare and zeal throughout the country. #

Jordan: The women of Saint Afram Syrian Orthodox church's choir pray during morning Christmas mass in Amman, Jordan, on December 25, 2013. Syrian and Iraqi Orthodox Christian families prayed for peace in their countries. #

Central African Republic: Catholic priests lead a special Christmas Day mass for children, in a monastery ground serving as a camp for the displaced, in Bangui, Central African Republic, on December 25, 2013. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 200,000 people remain displaced in the capital alone, and more than half of those are children. #

Central African Republic: Children pray during a special Christmas Day mass for children, in a monastery ground serving as a camp for the displaced, in Bangui, Central African Republic, on December 25, 2013. #

Afghanistan: US soldiers and service members with the NATO- led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) attend a religious ceremony on Christmas Eve at Bagram military base in Kabul, Afghanistan, on December 24, 2013. #

Chile: Ruben Torres, dressed in a Santa Claus outfit, waves to people from a boat with fishermen on Christmas Eve along the coast of Valparaiso city, about 121 km (75 miles) northwest of Santiago, on December 24, 2013. Every year, fishermen in Valparaiso organize a Santa Claus boat trip as people wait on the shore to receive their Christmas presents and well-wishes. #

China: Chinese Catholics attend a Christmas Eve Mass service at the official Catholic church South Cathedral in Beijing, on December 24, 2013. China and the Vatican have no diplomatic ties and the ruling Communist Party forced Chinese Catholics to sever their ties in the 1950s. China officially records about 6 million Catholics worshiping in 6,300 congregations across the country, although millions more are believed to worship outside the official church, with considerable crossover between the two in many areas. #

West Bank: Palestinian Christians participate in a morning Christmas mass at St. George Melkite Greek Catholic Church, in the West Bank village of Burqin near Jenin city, on December 25, 2013. #

Belarus: Men wearing costumes of Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), the Santa Claus in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, and women wearing costumes of Snegurochka (Snow Maiden), the traditional companion of Ded Moroz, march during their parade in Minsk on December 25, 2013. #

Iraq: Iraqi Christians attend a Christmas mass at the Mother Teresa Catholic Church in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, on Dec 25, 2013. #