Plans to replace Catholic school with mall appalls Iraqis
Al-Aqeeda, a Catholic girls high school built in 1921, is at the center of a controversy highlighting preserving Iraq's cultural heritage.
![Al_Aqeeda.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2018/08/Al_Aqeeda.jpg/Al_Aqeeda.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=jOOC-dIU)
Baghdad’s small Christian community is up in arms about plans to raze a Catholic school for girls, Al-Aqeeda, which means “faith,” and in its place build a shopping mall.
“This is [becoming] a trend, the targeting of Iraq's architectural heritage, not simply [its] Christian [heritage],” Joseph Slewa, a Christian former member of parliament, warned in an Aug. 6 Rudaw interview.