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Katolički bogoslovni fakultet

Institut religijskih znanosti

Kolegij: Engleski jezik za teologe I

Ivona Mršić

Christians in Iraq

The Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia, bordered by Turkey to the north,
Iran to the east, Kuwait to the southeast, Saudi Arabia to the south, Jordan to the southwest
and Syria to the west. Although Iraq covers the area of Mesopotamia between the Euphrates
and Tigris rivers where some of the greatest Biblical events took place, it is estimated that
today in Iraq there is less than 1% Christians or in a number 500 000+.

The vast majority of Iraqi Christians are indigenous Eastern Aramaic-speaking ethnic
Assyrians. Non-Syriac Iraqi Christians are largely Arab Christians and Armenians, and a very
small minority of Kurdish and Iraqi Turkmen Christians. The most widely followed
denomination among Iraq Christians are the Chaldean Catholic Church and Assyrian Church
of the East. Unlike catholics in Croatia, in Iraq there are different Catholic Churches such as
Syriac or Armenian but they are all „in union with Rome“. There is also a large number of
orthodox churches or churches of the east which we consider as Orthodox.

As we start from The Old Testament, we will see that Iraq plays a rich and vital
contribution to Christian history, and after Israel, Iraq has the most biblical history than any
other country in the world. Adam and Eve are widely thought to have hailed from Iraq, as the
biblical Garden of Eden is largely attributed to have been located in southern Iraq.

The patriarch Abraham was from Uruk, in southern Iraq, modern day Nasiriya, and
Rebecca was from northwest Iraq. Also, Jacob’s sons, the 12 tribes of Israel, were all born in
Iraq.

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 Daniel lived in Iraq most of his life. The prophet Ezekiel was from southern Iraq and
his oltar is located there. Shrines of Prophet Jonah, Saint George, and various other biblical
prophets and saints are attributed to have been originally from Iraq.

The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian
communities in the world. Došli su već u 1. stoljeću itd.

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