Syriac Christianity still alive in Iraq as Nineveh Plain Christians celebrate Palm Sunday

An American website considered that the gradual return of Christians to their homes in the Nineveh Plain in northern Iraq, and the celebration of their holidays, notably Palm Sunday, represents great importance for the followers of a religion that suffered from the control of the terrorist organization ISIS over their areas. A Syriac priest in Baghdida told the American website that reviving these rites is a great gift represented by the renewed ringing of church bells in the Nineveh Plain.

The American website Angelos, which specializes in Christian affairs, said in a recent report, “The celebrations of Palm Sunday in the Nineveh Plain in northern Iraq, and the return of some aspects of life to normal, occupies a special importance for the celebrations of Christians around the world this holy week.”

The report stated that in the streets of the Syriac town of Baghdida, the largest Christian city in the Nineveh Plain region, which was a victim of the genocide against Christians perpetrated by the terrorist organization ISIS, thousands participated in the rites of the Palm Sunday procession. The report also indicated that in addition to the Palm Sunday procession, crowds are expected to attend other Holy Week celebrations, including the Mass of the Way of the Cross and Easter mass.

The report quoted the priest of the Syriac Church in Baghdida, Father Naim Shoshandi, as saying that “the Christians of Iraq are full of hope and joy, because in the past years many were not able to celebrate Holy Week in the street among thousands of believers.” It also noted the return of fifty families per week to Baghdida to visit their families and revive their traditions.

The US report explains; “Father Shoshandi was among those who had to flee the country during the worst campaigns launched by the terrorists,” noting that “ISIS killed his brother in March 2014, simply because he was a Christian.”

Father Shoshandi pointed out that he did not expect the Christians to commemorate Palm Sunday as they did, but at the same time, he praises God, because what he saw last Sunday shows that Christianity is still alive in Iraq, not only in Baghdida, but in the entire Nineveh Plain, in Mosul and in Baghdad.

Father Shoshandi expressed his relief that the Christians were able to profess their faith in the street, saying, “We don’t have churches that are full, but we do have the great gift of being able to ring the bells, to announce the celebration of faith in our churches, which is something we haven’t been able to do for a long time because of ISIS.”

For the article in Suryoyo: U dcoro da Mşihoye Ciraqoye la fenyothathe wa zawhe da Oşacne dsimi bi daşto, kobın sabro d’haye hathe