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A different Christmas
Fadi Yousif is a Deacon of the Syrian Orthodox Church. He is an Iraqi by birth and his family still live in Baghdad. He trained at the monastery of St Ephrem outside Damascus. For the past three years he has been studying at St Michael's Theological College and has recently completed a Masters Degree in Theology and is now embarking on research for a PhD at Cardiff University. Fadi gives us a flavour of Christmas in Iraq.
"Christmas is the time when we commemorate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. It arrives with all its joy, happiness and gloriousness. Christmas is the season when people of different ages celebrate together. In Britain, people are rushing round buying presents and cards that they will exchange with their families and friends. Streets and houses will be decorated with lights and greenery.
Families gather together to share a traditional Christmas meal and open presents. But what about Christmas elsewhere? If we turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper then we come across a place that has captured the news in recent years, Iraq, the cradle of civilisation. Iraq is the modern name for the land that is called in the Syriac language Beth Nahrin ('the land between the rivers'; Tigris and Euphrates).
For many centuries it has been the centre of Near-Eastern religions and civilisations. The Garden of Eden is described in the Book of Genesis as being watered by four rivers; Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates (Gen 2: 10-14). It was also the land where Abraham, considered to be the father of the Jews and Gentiles, was born, in Ur of the Chaldees (Gen 11:31).
Iraq was the land of the early empires such as those of Babylon and Assyria. However, in modern times Iraq is considered to be an Islamic country. Many people would think that Iraq has nothing to do with Christianity and its festivals such as Christmas. In fact, the history of Christianity in Iraq goes back to the very beginning of the early Church, when Iraqi people were present on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9).
It is believed that these people brought Christianity back with them to Iraq. Moreover, early Church history points out that the Gospel was preached in Iraq in 30 A.D. by St Addai and St Mari who began their Biblical mission in Ctesiphon, south of Baghdad. Christianity is an ancient religion in Iraq, and Christian festivals are essential things in the life of the Iraqi Christian people. However, Christians represent only 3% of the Iraqi population (approximately 0.75 million).
In modern Iraq, three Christian denominations represents the old Iraqi Christian heritage; Syriac, Chaldean and Assyrian. The unique feature of these denominations is that they use our Lord Jesus Christ's language, Aramaic, in their liturgy and also in their daily life in some places.
Aramaic is one of the few languages that has been spoken continuously for thousands of years. It first appears in written records around 1000 B.C., though it is likely that it was spoken earlier. However, these communities celebrate Christmas in almost the same way as the British do here.
In the Christmas season, Iraqi Christians decorate their houses both inside and out. Usually they place a lighted cross on the roof of the house and they decorate their garden trees with lights. Thousands of Iraqi Christians prefer to celebrate Christmas right from the start so they go to a special Holy Mass on Christmas Eve.
On Christmas Day they gather to celebrate the main Christmas service. After the religious ceremonies people visit each other in their houses to exchange Christmas greetings. Indeed, Christmas is coming, but this year Iraqi Christians will be uncertain how to celebrate.
News from Iraq is not good for Christians. Recently Iraqi Christians have been living under constant threat. They are facing almost constant daily attacks. Their beautiful churches, that have been places for worship and provided aid for Christians and non-Christians alike, are bombed. Iraq Christians live with death threats and some have been kidnapped by fanatic militants who ask for ransom money for their return. Other Christians have been beheaded and tortured because they were working with international aid agencies.
Letters have been sent to schools and universities around the country threatening Christian women that they will be beheaded unless they wear a head dress. Fundamentalist Islamic militants encourage people not to buy anything from Iraqi Christians.
So you can see that Iraqi Christians will be approaching Christmas with mixed feelings - on one hand, happiness and celebration at the birth of the Christ - but on the other fear of the uncertain future that faces them.
The only response we can have to these unanswered questions is to pray that Iraqi Christians will have at the very least a peaceful Christmas.
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