Christians celebrate Christmas in Baghdad

Shafaq News / Christians gathered today Friday in St. Elia Chaldean Catholic church in east Baghdad to celebrate Christmas.

As part of strict measures against the Corona pandemic, fewer Christians participated in a mass on Christmas in Baghdad. Shafaq News Agency correspondent said

Yesterday evening, Thursday, Nineveh, Duhok and Kirkuk Christians also marked Christmas masses.

Iraq limited outdoor gatherings as a part of coronavirus restrictions.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi also attended yesterday a mass held on the occasion at Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad.

A statement by Al-Kadhimi office "Christian -Islamic brotherhood has always been a prominent example of the unity of the Iraqi people, and that Iraq is one family where there is no place for sectarianism.”

Iraq is home to many different eastern rite churches, both Catholic and Orthodox, traditionally a sign of the country’s ethnic and religious diversity.

But war and sectarian conflict shrank Iraq’s Christian population from 1.5 million to about 400,000 after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Following the onslaught ISIS in 2014 and the brutal three-year war that followed their numbers have fallen further, though it is not known exactly by how much.

Iraq declared victory over the militants more than a year ago, but the damage done to Christian enclaves on the Nineveh Plains has been extensive.

Earlier this month, the Iraqi parliament approved the birthday of Jesus Christ (Prophet Issa) as an official yearly holiday.