Father’s Day, unlike Mother’s Day, has had a religious significance as well as secular and, in some places, legal significance since the Middle Ages. In Catholic Europe, St. Joseph’s day, 19 March, recognized Joseph as the putative father of Christ and celebrated since at least the 16th Century. The Coptic Church may have celebrated the event on 20 July as early as the 5th Century. Sikhs observe Father’s Day on 29 December, the birthday of Guru Gobind Singh. The Eastern Orthodox Church, adding to the confusion, observes Father’s Day on the second Sunday before the Nativity (between 11 and 17 December), calling it the Sunday of the Forefathers, including Adam and Abraham. In the United States, observation/celebration began in Washington state in 1910.
Now, Father’s Day is observed/celebrated sometime in over 100 countries.
In the United States and most of the rest of the world, Father’s Day festivities on the third Sunday in June are marked by outdoor grilling and other summer stuff. Gifts and ceremonies celebrating the influence of the male half of the population who act in the role, whether or not they sire children. The object, of course, is to observe that fathers have a positive role…unlike some in popular culture who deny this.
I was thirteen when I lost my father, but I’ve had several since. One’s still with us.