Iraq’s Christians celebrate Easter

BAGHDAD – Iraq's Christians took advantage of improved security and gathered Sunday to celebrate Easter. Priests offered prayers for an end to the violence. "God protect us and rid our country of disputes and quarrels; let it be free of hatred and hostilities," Cardinal Emmanuel II Delly said during services in Baghdad's Mansour district, which were broadcast on state television.

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About 500 Christians attended services at the Virgin Mary Church in the southern city of Basra. It was believed to be the largest attendance at the Basra church since 2003. George Matti, 65, from Mosul's eastern Zuhor neighborhood, attended Mass at the local church and then hurried home to his wife and five sons. "We are asking Jesus to help our beloved Iraq and to help all Christians inside and outside Iraq to return to their homes," said Matti, who urged authorities to fulfill their promise to secure the city, 225 miles (360 km) north of Baghdad. Christians made up about 3% of Iraq's 26 million people when the war began in 2003. The exact number of Christians remaining in Iraq is unclear, but estimates put the figure at several hundred thousand.

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