Iraqi government declares Christmas a 'national holiday'

Asia News ^ | December 23, 2013 | Joseph Mahmoud

[NYer]

In his recent address to the authorities, the Chaldean Patriarch had asked for an official recognition of the holy day. Mar Sako said that "Jesus did not come just for Christians, but for everyone"; he also emphasises the "special respect" Muslims have for Jesus. The recognition is a new and important step for a long-persecuted minority.

Baghdad (AsiaNews) - In a new and important step towards the Christian minority, the Iraqi government accepted a request by the Chaldean Patriarchate to recognise 25 December as an official day of celebration and a national holiday for all of the country's citizens. In Karrada, a neighbourhood on the eastern bank of the Tigris River where Christians, Shias and Sunnis live peacefully together, the authorities had already set up a five-metre Christmas tree.

As a show of "solidarity", the decision sends a signal meant to curb an exodus that has decimated the Christian community in the past ten years.

It comes after His Beatitude Mar Raphael Louis Sako I wrote a letter to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki last week, asking him to make 25 December a "day of rest for all Iraqis."

For the patriarch, such a recognition would be a way to acknowledge the value and importance of a community that has for centuries actively contributed to the development of the nation.

In his letter, the Chaldean Patriarch explained that "Jesus did not come just for Christians, but for everyone", stressing the "special respect" Muslims "have for Him."

In response, the Iraqi cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister al-Maliki took this "important decision" yesterday morning.

In Baghdad, local authorities also decked out some areas of the capital with Christmas lights and trees to "show their respect for and closeness to" the Christian community at this time of celebration.

After the US invasion in 2003, Islamic extremists targeted the Christian minority, killing hundreds of its members, including a bishop, priests, businessmen, doctors, and politicians.

Because of this, Christians in their thousands have fled the country over the past ten years, reducing the community from more than two million to less than 300,000.

[NYer]

Mar Raphael Louis Sako is Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church. Good news, ping!

[katiedidit1]

Joy to the World and Merry Christmas! it is a miracle

[wizr]

Amen! Thank you for this post.

[LS]

Holy cow. So the Muslim nations will acknowledge Christmas is about Jesus, but we can’t?

[Repent and Believe]

What difference will it make when they get their nuclear arsenal set up and hold it to the heads of the Christian countries. This may be an outcropping of the recent negotiations and slackening of sanctions. “Aren’t we nice to let you folks have a day of celebration?” Then when we Christian nations least expect it: “KA-BOOM!”

[B4Ranch]

>>Mar Sako said that “Jesus did not come just for Christians, but for everyone”; he also emphasises the “special respect” Muslims have for Jesus. The recognition is a new and important step for a long-persecuted minority.<<

Is this guy off his rocker? Muslims are killing Christians in Egypt thereby showing their “special respect” for Jesus.

[NYer]

Mar Sako said that “Jesus did not come just for Christians, but for everyone”

No, he is not off his rocker. The apostles thought the Messiah was strictly for the Jews. Jesus told them otherwise. We are ALL God's children.

Muslims are killing Christians in Egypt thereby showing their “special respect” for Jesus.

My friend, radical Muslims are killing christians in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere in the Middle East, Africa and the Orient. Like it or not, they are also God's children and He came to save them as well, whether or not they accept it.

[NYer]

What difference will it make when they get their nuclear arsenal set up and hold it to the heads of the Christian countries.

With a freeper name of "Repent and Believe", do you have no faith in the power of prayer? How do you suppose Cardinal Sako and the christian community brought about this amazing reversal?

[B4Ranch]

>>Mar Sako said that “Jesus did not come just for Christians, but for everyone”; he also emphasises the “special respect” Muslims have for Jesus. The recognition is a new and important step for a long-persecuted minority.<<

Would you care to comment on the “special respect” Muslims have for Jesus?