By Baghdadhope
Source: Iraqlaan
Iraqi Christians living in the southern governorates of the country launch a campaign for the restoration of churches that neglect and war made unfit for use. In an interview issued by Iraqlaan, Father Imad Aziz Al Banna, the responsible of the Chaldean Diocese of Basra said that the local Christian community requested for this purpose the financing by the government, and is working in collaboration with the office that takes care of the interests of non-Muslim communities, the Ministry of Planning and the Basra Governorate Council.
Father Al Banna recalled the recent reopening of the church of Um Al Ahzan in Al Amarah, in the nearby Maysan Governorate, and reiterated its confidence in the preservation of Christian religious heritage by the government, underlining how the security situation encourages this initiative, more urgent now that some families previously fled from the south of Iraq are returning. Less known and numerous than that of Baghdad or of north of the country the Iraqi Christian community in the south has ancient roots that, in the words of the Syriac Orthodox priest of the Virgin Church, Father Sam'an Khaz'al, date back to the IV century AD confirming how Basra was since then a place of spread of Christianity to the territories of the Arab Gulf.
To recover the testimonies of this story is for this reason important, and that’s why the call for aid is also to the international organisations to financially contribute to the project.