"A significant rise in the Orthodox Christian community among Guatemala's Maya population has been recorded by researchers at the Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH). According to figures published in the journal Latinoamerica by the Russian Academy of Sciences, more than 1.5 million people in Guatemala could identify as Orthodox Christians by 2025, over six per cent of the country’s population. Footage recorded between December 19 and 21 inside San Demetrio Cathedral shows worshippers attending the Divine Liturgy, surrounded by traditional iconography within the ornate interior of the cathedral. The parish priest, Bernabe Yazajy, said that around 400 families currently belong to the San Demetrio parish, according to information provided to the agency. The growth of Orthodoxy in Guatemala is closely linked to migration, particularly from the Middle East. Yazajy explained that the church's roots date back to the late 19th century, when families from Lebanon and Palestine settled in the country. "How did the Orthodox Church arrive in the country? Mainly, as I hear from the men here, from the large families that are in the church, mainly some families from Palestine came here," Yazajy said. "We can say that these [Palestinian families] were the first generation of Orthodox families that came to the country. And little by little these families start looking for how they can live and maintain their faith," he added. San Demetrio Cathedral belongs to the Archdiocese of Mexico, Venezuela, Central America and the Caribbean under the Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. According to the Orthodox Church of Guatemala, the parish today includes Christian Arabs, particularly Palestinians and Syrians, as well as Greeks and Guatemalans, alongside Russians, Ukrainians, Romanians, Americans and Mexicans."