There are fears that the two buildings will be an easy target of attack. Despite their misgivings, believers continue to fill the church for mass. The parish priest said Easter celebrations have never been as well attended as this year.
Mosul (AsiaNews) The opening of a police station near a church in Mosul gives cause for "great concern" to the local community. What in any other country would be a guarantee of more security has the opposite effect in Iraq. Here, churches and police are the preferred targets for attacks and reprisals of all kinds, Fr Ragheed Ganni told AsiaNews. He is the Chaldean parish priest of the Church of the Holy Spirit, already the victim of an attack in summer of 2004. "Last month, they opened a police station next door to my church. If this means a guarantee of security for you, for us, it poses a great danger." The priest talked of "an Easter of explosions and fear" but added that he had never seen such a large number of believers at the celebrations as this year.
"More than four months after historic elections in Iraq, we are still without a government," said Fr Ganni. "There is no security to manage the escalation of violence of daily blasts and murders. The idea is gaining ground that human beings are the least precious commodity, in fact, that they cost nothing. The aim of these criminals seems to be 'kill as many you like, there are many in Iraq and they are worth less than animals'."
Despite bomb blasts and threats, Easter celebrations in Mosul were well attended by the community. "On Good Friday, the city woke up to a massive blast: a car bomb struck a police station, killing six people and injuring dozens. Another blast went off in the street leading to the Church of the Holy Spirit, frequented by civilians, army and police," said the parish priest. Despite all this, the churches were packed with people, "even more than last year".
Saturday was little better. "There were explosions everywhere from the early morning, but we were heartened by the baptism of 10 children. At 4pm, we celebrated the Easter vigil and on Sunday, in the presence of more than 1,500 people, we held Sunday Mass."
On Easter Monday, believers going to church came in for intimidation. Fr Ganni himself received a telephone call early in the morning, warning of three car bombs the vehicles were allegedly encircling the church in a bid to attack it. "Fortunately, it was untrue", but in any case, "we would have had no authorities to turn to for protection. At times, we get the impression that no one in the world can hear the voice of the innocent who cry."