(17 Apr 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Baghdad - 17 April 2022
1. Various of Iraqi policemen guarding church
2. Various of priest swinging censer to spread incense at the beginning of Mass
3. Cross
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Manhal Kamil, pastor of the Roman Catholic Church:
"We ask God to give wisdom and peace to all the thinkers, wise men, and leaders in this country, so that they can find a fertile ground to establish a state upon (fair) basis, to take care of the poor and the oppressed people."
5. Various of Easter Mass, faithful attending service
6. Priest at lectern
7. Various of congregation during Mass
8. Various of choir singing during Mass
9. Various of Christians receiving holy communion
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Manhal Kamil, pastor of the Roman Catholic Church:
"When life is calm, stable, and there is real peace, Christians will surely return (to their homes). But if the situation remains worrying, everyone will be afraid. Our numbers were in the past about 1.5 million, I mean in the year 2000 or before that. Now there are (only) 250,000 Christians from all denominations. This is a big problem."
11. Sign reading (Arabic): "The Roman Catholic Church"
12. Exterior of Roman Catholic Church
STORYLINE:
Iraqi Christians gathered at the Roman Catholic Church in central Baghdad for the Easter service on Sunday amid security measures.
For Christians, Easter is a day of joy and hope, as they mark their belief that Jesus triumphed over death by resurrection following his crucifixion.
In Iraq, two decades of back-to-back conflicts have left ancient Christian communities, that were once a vibrant and integral part of the landscape, scattered and in ruins.
Iraq was estimated to have nearly 1.5 million Christians before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
They date back to the first centuries of the religion and include Chaldean, Syriac, Assyrian and Armenian churches.
Now, church officials estimate only a few hundred thousand, or even less, remain within Iraq's borders.
"This is a big problem," says Manhal Kamil, the pastor of the Roman Catholic Church, adding that Christians will return to their homes in Iraq when there is "real peace".
Christians were among the first groups targeted amid the breakdown in security and sectarian bloodbath that prevailed for years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
In the summer of 2014, fighters belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant swept over the northern city of Mosul and seized a broad swath of the country, including towns and villages in the Nineveh plains of northern Iraq.
Thousands of Christians found themselves fleeing the militants' advance at the time, taking refuge in Iraq's northern Kurdish region or leaving the country.
Militants from the Islamic State group demolished religious and historic sites, including monasteries, mosques, tombs, shrines and churches in Syria and Iraq.
Today, most churches in Iraq are surrounded by concrete walls to offer protection from armed attacks.
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