|PIC1|A leading Iraqi prelate has told how Christians have reacted with a show of defiance following the tragic death of an archbishop - an event which shocked the world.

Despite the ever-present risk of kidnappings and bomb-blasts, Easter Mass-goers have packed churches across the country both Sunday and the weekend before.

At least two Iraqi priests, until now studying in Europe, have decided to return to Baghdad in a move bound to boost the confidence of the country's dwindling Christian community.

Discussing the Christians' defiance in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Andreas Abouna of Baghdad said the people's determination gave new cause for hope.

Speaking from Baghdad, the auxiliary to the Patriarch of Babylon (Baghdad) of the Chaldeans, said: "Our people are used to being part of a persecuted Church - it's all we've ever known, almost from the beginning starting barely 400 years after Christ.

"They know it is their life to go through this."

Bishop Abouna was speaking on Monday nearly three weeks after the death of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, of Mosul in northern Iraq.

The archbishop, 65, was kidnapped on the steps of his cathedral in an attack which left his driver and two bodyguards dead.

Archbishop Rahho died about two weeks later, apparently of natural causes, and was buried in a shallow grave in Mosul.

Meantime, reports have come in showing how Christians in the nearby Nineveh plains have held peaceful demonstrations calling for the arrest of Archbishop Rahho's kidnappers.

Acting on an Easter appeal by bishops in Nineveh, Christians have taken to the streets with pictures of Archbishop Rahho and other 'martyrs' walking through villages including Karamles, where the prelate's funeral took place on Friday, 14th March.

Bishop Abouna said there was still no further information about the kidnappers' identity or motive. He refused to rule out the possibility of them striking again.

The bishop went on to stress how Christians were determined to "keep faith".

The bishop said: "Many of the churches were packed with people - although in Mosul, it is different because until now the situation has been unstable."

He said: "We - both us bishops and priests - have told the people that they have to stand by for anything and that they have to defend their faith. We have asked them not to lose hope in Christ.

"Christians in Iraq do not like being a persecuted Church but if persecution comes, we are ready."

He spoke of his delight at the imminent return to Baghdad of the two priests, who cannot be named for security reasons. "This is wonderful news - a real sign of hope," he said.

The return of the priests, who have received funding from ACN, will help allay fears that Archbishop Rahho's death would spark another mass exodus of Christians from Iraq.

Before 2003, Christians in Iraq numbered up to 1.2 million but it is now thought that almost two-thirds have fled abroad, especially to Syria, Jordan and Turkey.



About Aid to the Church in Need:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named "An Outstanding Apostle of Charity", the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity - whose UK office is in Sutton, Surrey - undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative's launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child's Bibles have been distributed worldwide.