Sunday at St Youssef's

It has been a while since I have been to church, but having been to more than a few mosques, I thought I would try the local church especially since it is less than 100 metres away. St Youssef's Chaldean Church is just a few years old and was built to accommodate the growing Christian community who fled to the safety of Kurdistan particularly after the horrible bombing of the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad in 2010. Chaldean's worship in the Eastern style but recognise the pope as the head of the church and the parish has two churches, St Youssef's and a much older and smaller church in the old part of the city. 

The entrance is patrolled by an armed guard who checks bags to prevent any nonsense, though there have been no attacks on Christians in Kurdistan.

The interior is much the same as any modern church, though the religious images are distinctly eastern in style. What is startling is that the congregation of around 100 is largely women, which takes a bit of getting used to in this male dominated society. There are altar girls as well as altar boys and at various points women take readings and lead the service.

I attended an evening mass which is in Arabic whereas the morning mass is in Kurdish, but church services are fairly predictable and easy to follow, though I did have to reacquaint myself with the pungent smell of incense. We are so used to hearing the word 'Allah' in association with Islam that is strange to hear it in a Christian church. Mind you the Polish word for God is Bog and that is much odder.

As  everywhere in the world, children fidget and are told off, and teenagers look so bored...

As a reward for attending, the departing congregation are treated to a large soft date, coated with sesame seeds and stuffed with walnut - yummm