As the number of Christians dwindles in that beleaguered country, reports suggest that the celebrations of Christ’s birth are diminishing, too:

Christians in Iraq are preparing for a muted holiday season, with one bishop in the southern city of Basra calling for a ban on public festivities while other congregations across the country have canceled services and cautioned worshipers to keep their celebrations private.

The Chaldean bishop of Basra, Imad al-Banna, is asking Christians “not to display their joy, not to publicly celebrate the feast of Nativity” to avoid offending Iraq’s Shiite community, whose Ashura holiday falls two days after Christmas this year.

According to Louis Sako, chief archbishop of Kirkuk for the Chaldean Christians, a Catholic sect that originated in Iraq, none of the northern archdiocese’s nine churches has scheduled a Christmas Mass this year.

“This is the first time we have had to cancel our celebrations,” he said.

Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Iraq’s Christian minority has faced constant persecution, including dozens of church bombings, executions, kidnappings and forced expulsions, devastating some communities and reducing the overall Christian population by at least 25 percent.

Just last week, a double car bombing at a church in Mosul killed four people and injured 40.

This year, with Christmas falling so close to Ashura, church officials in Baghdad and other cities say they have received warnings of attacks, forcing them to limit services to indoors and caution followers to keep family gatherings discreet.

“We are in solidarity with the people in Basra,” said Abdel Ahad, pastor of Baghdad’s Syrian Catholic Church. “We are afraid. We need to stop the bloodshed. We are going to do our prayers, but we will not celebrate.”

There are more details at the link.