Iraqi Christians in the northern city of Kirkuk have decided to drastically ratchet back Christmas celebrations this year to mourn lives lost in an attack on a Baghdad church earlier in 2010, the al-Sumaria news agency reported Tuesday.
The archbishop of Kirkuk, Louis Sacco, said activities marking the religious holiday would be limited to Christmas mass and prayer for the future of Iraq. No festive singing or celebrations will take place, DPA reported.
At least 52 people were killed in a siege on the Our Lady of Salvation church, an Assyrian Catholic temple in Baghdad, which began October 31 and stretched on for several days.
A group affiliated with al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened Christians throughout the Middle East.
Rights groups say hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Christians have fled the country since the US invasion in 2003 because of death threats and sectarian violence.
Iraqi Christians in Kirkuk to curtail Christmas festivities
Iraqi Christians in the northern city of Kirkuk have decided to drastically ratchet back Christmas celebrations this year to mourn lives lost in an attack on a Baghdad church earlier in 2010, the al-Sumaria news agency reported Tuesday.
