IRAQI Christians who fled a district of Baghdad that declared itself an al-Qaeda caliphate have returned home to celebrate their first Christmas in two years.
Known as the “Vatican of Iraq”, the small but long-established Christian enclave in the mainly Sunni district of Doura suffered constant terror at the hands of
al-Qaeda gunmen who tried to impose a Taliban-style rule.
Churches were car-bombed, women were threatened for not wearing Islamic headscarves, and families had to pay off local mosques to keep them safe from kidnap gangs.
But now al-Qaeda has been rooted out of Doura and the hundreds of Christian families who left the area are returning.
On Christmas Day they will congregate in the battle-scarred St Mary’s Church, where part of the crucifix on its tower is still missing after being shot at.
“We closed the church two years ago because of all the trouble,” said the priest, Father Younadim Shamoon, 45, who has decorated its bullet-cratered walls with modest fairy lights.
“But many people are coming back after word got around that the local Muslim people were welcoming us again. We thank God and hope that we can live together again as brothers.”
This truly is a ray of sunshine and good tidings in an area of strife. Let’s hope for more such news, and pray for the people of Iraq.
God bless them and thanks be to God for this ray of light.