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The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world. The vast majority of Iraqi Christians are indigenous Eastern Aramaic -speaking ethnic Assyrians who descend from ancient Assyria , and follow the Syriac Christian tradition.
Once home to some of the world’s oldest Christian sites and communities, Iraq and the greater Levant has witnessed an onslaught of instability and violence targeting minority religions. Despite these challenges, leaders of Iraq’s Christian community have risen to become a voice for persecuted religious groups across the region.
In 2003, a total of 1.3 million Christians lived in Iraq and enjoyed protection and near-equal rights with Iraq’s Muslim majority under Saddam. Now that number has dwindled to fewer than 250,000.
For much of the past century, the Christians of Iraq lived in peace and harmony with their Muslim neighbors. Iraq was a rich and prosperous country, and Christian schools, many of which were run by Western religious orders, were once widely appreciated for their high-quality education.
The largest Christian city in Iraq, Qaraqosh (Bakhdida) in the Al-Hamdaniya District, was captured by ISIS on August 6, 2014. Because the community was aware of the horrific crimes in Sinjar and Mosul, most of the 60,000 residents fled to Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
In an impassioned address in London, the Rt Rev Bashar Warda said Iraq's Christians now faced extinction after 1,400 years of persecution. Since the US-led invasion toppled the regime of Saddam...
The past twenty years have been a transformative time for Iraq’s hristian community, who have watched their population decline due to violence, marginalization, and other types of persecution from extremist groups such as Dae’sh, also known as ISIS.
Since 2003, Christians in Iraq have faced severe persecution, including systemic displacement, violence, and legal discrimination. Christians face threats from both the government and extremist groups.
From the 5 th to 6 th centuries on, the Aramaic-speaking or Syriac Christians of Iraq were split into two groups, following the Christological controversies concerning the union of the human and divine natures in Christ.
Christianity has been in Iraq from its earliest times, as the Acts of the Apostles testify. Its origins go back to the preaching of St Thomas the Apostle and his disciples Addai and Mari in the first century A.D., which extended to East Asia.