Iraq’s first new church since the 2003 US-led invasion opened in a poor Christian neighborhood of the northern city of Kirkuk, the region’s Chaldean archbishop told AFP.

The inauguration of Mar Bulos (Saint Paul’s) church in the multi-ethnic and multi-religious city comes despite the sharp fall in the number of Christians in Iraq because of attacks and threats by Al Qaeda.

In an opening ceremony lst Thursday, Louis Sako, the Chaldean Archbishop of the northern province of Sulaimaniyah and Kirkuk (also the name of the provincial capital) said that Christians and Muslims “need each other.”

“We need each other, we cannot isolate ourselves and live alone,” he told a congregation of about 300.

“Isolation is a slow death, so we have hope for a joint life as Christians and Muslims, to have a righteous country, and a city full of security, stability and dignity.”

“This is considered as the first new church in Iraq since 2003,” Archbishop Sako said.

The new Kirkuk church serves a housing community of about 200 Christian families who fled to Kirkuk and nearby regions from other parts of the country, Archbishop Sako said.

The church and complex were built on land donated by the Iraqi government and with donations, including $10,000 by President Jalal Talabani.

He said it was a secure location with fewer instances of violence and was better protected because of its location near the facilities and housing complexes of the state-run North Oil Company.

In a symbolic gesture of solidarity with the Christian community, Sheikh Ahmed Muhammad Ameen, the Muslim Imam of Kirkuk, recited a prayer before the congregation, asking God for peace and security for the people of Kirkuk and the rest of Iraq.

The ceremony was also attended by several Arab and Kurdish officials.

Hassan Toran, the chief of Kirkuk’s provincial council, said that the local government “will support the Christians, financially and morally.

“Today is an example for forgiveness in this city, a message of peace to confirm the coexistance and fraternity of all the sects of Kirkuk,” he said.

AFP