The Last City of the Christians [Iraq]

Syriac Press ^ | 12/26/21 | Alfred Hackensberger

[marshmallow]

1.5 million Christians once lived in Iraq. The country was home to one of the largest church communities in the Middle East. Today that community has shrunk to a tenth. WELT visited Catholics in Basra, southern Iraq. The charm of the city, which used to be called the "Venice of the East", is hardly felt today.

This article was originally published in German by Die Welt on December 24, 2021. The original can be found here.

Pastor Emad is in a hurry. Mass is about to start, but he is not dressed yet. A big party awaits him after mass as the congregation is celebrating the jubilee’s thirty-fifth anniversary as a priest in Basra, Iraq’s third largest city in the south on the Shatt al-Arab River. In the front yard of the Chaldean Catholic Church of St. Theresa, the chairs and tables are already set for the party. Shiny green, red and blue garlands flash on a set cross. Lemonade and a large, overly sweet chocolate cake await the jubilee.

Abuna (Father) Emad, nervously looks at the clock and takes a quick glance at the altar. He wears a large gold cross around his neck on a long chain that dangles over his big belly. “I don’t have much time,” he says, but the 61-year-old starts talking anyway. “We go back to the second century AD and are one of the oldest Christian communities.”

“St. Thomas founded our church on his way from Turkey to India,” he says. “In the fourth century it was a diocese, the first of its kind,” he proudly adds. But you can see from the priest’s face that this long and impressive history alone does not make him happy. The exodus of Iraqi Christians from their homeland troubles him.

The Christian population has been emigrating......