Christians in Iraq face a sombre and fearful Christmas, as the prospects for 2011 look, at best, uncertain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been great fear, and there\u2019s been a lot of anxiety,\u201d\u009d Canon Andrew White, Chaplain of St George\u2019s, Baghdad, told the BBC at the weekend. \u201cWe lost many of our families who have disappeared or been killed.\u201d\u009d Some 500 of the formerly 4000-strong congregation were no longer present, he said.<\/p>\n
The string of attacks on Christian targets this year, culminating in the siege in October of a cathedral in Baghdad in which more than 50 people were killed…, prompted the Iraqi government to erect concrete walls around churches and increase security in other ways. Despite the introduction of these new precau\u00c2\u00adtions, most churches in Iraq have decided not to risk the lives of members of the congregation, and have cancelled Christmas services and celebrations.<\/p>\n