In Iraq, many churches cancel traditional Christmas celebrations [View All]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/10486683.htm

BY OMAR JASSIM
Knight Ridder Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - (KRT) - Sabri Yohana sat in front of his Baghdad church this week with an AK-47 assault rifle and bad news for visitors: Christmas is canceled.

There would be no service Christmas morning and no parties at dusk. No tinsel-covered trees or tinny-voiced children's choir. Christmas in Iraq, he said, is the latest casualty in a guerrilla war that's taking on increasingly sectarian tones.

"Dozens of families from our congregation have left for Syria or Jordan or Western countries," Yohana said. "I can't even send my kids to school because it's so unsafe. For Christmas, we'll stay home. There's nowhere we can go, nowhere safe enough to take your wife and kids."

Thousands of Iraqi Christians won't be celebrating the birth of Christ this year - partly out of fear and partly to protest the violence plaguing the country. Christian leaders said they would hold short, subdued masses but would forgo traditional pageants, caroling and feasts. Christmas Eve midnight masses will be held in the afternoon.