Next year, Christmas will be a civic holiday in Kirkuk .
(Dec.. 28, 2011) Next year, Christmas will be a civic holiday in Iraq. The governor
of Kirkuk, Najim al-din Umar Karim, said that Christmas would be a civic holiday
for the entire city. He made his decision public, whilst expressing his best wishes
to Chaldean bishop Louis Sako and local Christians attending Christmas Mass in the
city’s cathedral. He also said he would urge the national government to make Christmas
a national holiday for all Iraqis. The rich city of Kirkuk has been the scene
of violence, often against Christians. Despite that, the city’s archbishop said that
about 2,000 people took part in Christmas Mass, held during daytime for security reasons.
In a sign of the desire for coexistence, all secular authorities and Muslim religious
leaders came to the cathedral to express their best wishes for Christmas. Addressing
the people present at the ceremony, the governor of Kirkuk praised the mission of
Jesus Christ, the ‘Prince of Peace’. He urged Christians who fled the country some
600,000 to come back to Iraq. “Without them, Iraq will be missing something substantial,”
said Najim al-din Umar Karim, who praised Archbishop Sako for his support for Christian-Muslim
dialogue. “Without them, Iraq won’t be Iraq,” he added.