The celebrations are also being called off as a tribute to the victims of the Hamdaniya fire that killed 133 people in September, with nearly all of the victims being Christians.
Photo:Worshippers
attend a Christmas eve service at Mart Shmoni Syriac Orthodox church in the
Ankawa, last year.
Dec 17,
2023. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
According to a statement issued Sunday by the Chaldean Patriarchate, all
activities in clubs and churches during Christmas, and New Year's Eve will be
canceled in protest against the removal of the Patriarch Raphael Louis Sako
from his role as patriarch, among other issues faced by the community.
Cardinal Sako relocated to Erbil in July after Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rasheed withdrew a presidential decree that had recognized him as the leader of the Chaldean Patriarchate and custodian of the church’s assets in Baghdad.
The
celebrations are also being called off as a tribute to the victims of the
Hamdaniya fire that killed 133 people in September, with nearly all of the
victims being Christians.
In
addition, the statement cited the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the “Holy
Land,” currently resulting in the deaths of over 19,000 people on both sides,
as another reason for the cancellations.
“There will
be no Christmas and New Year celebrations except for prayers for peace and
stability in Iraq, the Holy Land, and the region. We apologize that we will not
receive any congratulations from government officials during these
holidays," the statement read.
This is the
third time in the past 10 years that Iraqi Christians have canceled New Year's
Day and Christmas celebrations, with the last instance being in 2019 when
numerous deaths were recorded in Baghdad’s Tishreen protests.
Before
then, Christmas celebrations were canceled in 2014 in solidarity with displaced
Christian families who fled the ISIS offensive.
Despite the
cancellations, the ongoing Christmas Festival in Erbil, hosted by the Erbil
International Fair (EIF), has been open since Dec. 13, although it is believed
the festival has no affiliation with the Chaldean community.
Kurdistan24
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