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Correspondents' Journal

December 20, 2004

Christmas Has the Taste of Ashes for Us

As the holiday season approaches, our thoughts turn back to a time we shared with friends in Baghdad, during Christmas of 2003.

Our thoughts and prayers this season
are with the vast majority of Iraqis who still work and pray for peace in their land.

On the night before Christmas Eve, we joined a group of Iraqis in their early 20s and 30s who founded and run Bethany House, a home for handicapped women in Baghdad. This joyful gathering at Bethany House was an all night affair of singing, dancing, decorating, and sharing memories and tokens of friendship. Read the story of last year’s Christmas Eve gathering at Bethany House.

Violence interrupts joy

This joyous night did not pass without sorrow. As the evening was just beginning, a new military campaign also started, led by U.S. forces: “Operation Iron Grip.” The still of the night was broken by the sound of jets flying overhead and bombs dropping. The percussion of mortar and missiles shook Bethany house. We watched the night sky and tried to determine what part of the city was being bombed, and who might be dying. The lights on the tree glowed only in rare moments, and we cooked by lantern light because the electricity was on for only minutes and off for many hours. Occasionally, one of the celebrants would quietly start to weep, wondering if full scale war had started again.

We lived the essence of Christmas last year, thanks to this group of young people in war-torn Iraq. Through their spirit and efforts, they exemplified their Christian faith by providing shelter for those who have been turned out, and by sharing the meager bounty of their lives with those who had far less.

One year later, Iraq’s Christians in peril

A year later, as Christmas approaches again, we think of our friends at Bethany, understanding that a year has wrought many changes. As violence and civil unrest escalate throughout Iraq, minority communities and vulnerable populations are increasingly at risk. Intimidation and attacks by extremists are forcing many in Iraq’s tiny Christian minority to flee, while others refrain from traditional Christmas celebrations, including the chance to worship safely in Iraq’s churches.

Last August, car bombs at five Christian churches killed 12 people and left dozens wounded, sparking an exodus of Iraqi Christians into neighboring Syria and Jordan.

The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni clerical group, condemned these attacks. “Islam doesn’t support the ongoing terrorism,” said Sheik Abdul Sattar Abdul-Jabbar.

Approximately 10,000 to 40,000 Christians have left Iraq since the invasion by U.S. and coalition forces in March 2003. The country’s Christian population is now believed to be approximately 800,000 (3 percent of Iraq’s 25 million), down from an estimated 1.4 million in 1987.

Christianity’s long history in Iraq

"Christians and Muslims have lived here side by side for more than 1,400 years and they intend to continue..."

Since the dawn of Christianity, there has been a Christian presence in Iraq. The Christian Church of Iraq was born of the teachings of Saint Thomas the Apostle, who left Jerusalem in about 40 AD to preach the teachings of Christ to other peoples of the Middle East. About 70 percent of Iraq’s Christians belong to the Chaldean Church. Many of them speak Aramaic—the language of Christ. In addition, Iraq has natives of the Roman Catholic, Armenian, Syrian, Assyrian, and Protestant denominations.

“Christians and Muslims have lived here side by side for more than 1,400 years and they intend to continue,” affirmed a joint statement by the principal Christian communities in Iraq. The statement condemned attacks on both Christian and Muslim places of worship.

Hideous crimes aimed at Christianity and the West

When five more churches were bombed in Iraq at 4 a.m. on October 16 of this year, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, leader of the Shia Muslims, said the attacks “targeted Iraq’s unity, stability, and independence,” and he called them “hideous crimes.”

The terrorist groups that carry out the attacks “hope that many, many more Christians will go. Their strategy is to create fear among the Christians and push them out of Iraq,” warned Syrian Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa of Mosul.

At 4:30 p.m. on December 8, terrorists destroyed an Armenian-Catholic church and the Chaldean Bishop’s Palace in Mosul. Archbishop Fernando Filoni, apostolic nuncio in Baghdad, told AsiaNews that the attacks against the Bishop’s residence and the Armenian Catholic church are “grave and cowardly acts against defenseless Christian symbols and institutions.”

“By striking at Eastern Christians they (terrorists) want to strike at the West. For them, Christianity and the Western world are but one and the same,” declared Bishop Rabban al Qas of Amadiya.

Reaping the violence we’ve sowed

The U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq has brought death and destruction to her people, infrastructure, and civil and religious institutions. U.S. policies have fractionalized and polarized Iraqi society, resulting in especially profound risks to minority populations.

As we experience Christmas in Amman with many friends in the Iraqi exile community, our thoughts and prayers this season are with the vast majority of Iraqis who still work and pray for peace in their land.

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