Christmas Mass not held at Iraq’s Baqubah only church
Shafaq News – Diyala
The only church in the city of Baqubah, northeastern Diyala province, stood empty on Thursday, with no Christmas Mass held, reflecting the sharp decline in the number of Christian families in the province.
Rafid Amer, acting administrator of the Church of Our Lady
of Good Counsel, told Shafaq News that the Christian population in Diyala once
ranged between 150 and 200 families before the wave of violence that struck the
province, but has now fallen to just 15 to 20 scattered families. He noted that
these families do not attend the church and do not take part in Christmas
rituals or related activities.
Amer added that all Christian families who left the province did so permanently, with no indications that any intend to return, according to available information.
Meanwhile, Diyala Police Command spokesperson Haitham Al-Shammari told Shafaq News that the police command, in coordination with local organizations, organizes regular visits to the church and provides support to the family overseeing its administration.
Al-Shammari said the Diyala Police Command, working with other government bodies, continues to call on Christian families who left the province to return and resettle, citing improved security conditions and a return to normal life in Diyala.
The decline of Iraq’s Christian population began after the
2003 war, as years of instability, sectarian violence, kidnappings, and church
attacks—followed by the 2014 ISIS takeover of Mosul and the Nineveh
Plain—forced tens of thousands of families to flee their homes, with many later
deterred from returning by destruction, property seizures, and ongoing security
and economic uncertainty.
