Iraqi Christians flourished long before Muslims By Steve Gushee Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Friday, January 28, 2005 The kidnapping of a Catholic bishop in Mosul last week is a sad reminder of the once robust but rapidly diminishing Christian community in Iraq. Insurgents abducted Syrian Catholic Archbishop BasileCasmoussa apparently to frighten Iraqi Christians. They wanted to discourage Christians from voting on Sunday, according to Iraqi bishop, Louis Sako of Kirkuk. Both bishops are members of a branch of the Roman Catholic Church and one of several small, eclectic church groups in the country. Christians flourished in Iraq long before...