Christians in Mosul head to church for Lent

NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: Christians in the city of Mosul began to head to church on Monday to take part in the mass for the occasion of Lent thanks to the security improvement in the city, a priest said, noting that these churches were empty in the past few months. “A few number of Christians used to attend the mass which was held in the Mosul churches as most Christians left the city because of the bad security situation,” the priest told IraqiNews.com news agency, noting that many families had returned to the city from Talkief and al-Hamadaniya districts after the improvement in the security conditions. “Hundreds of Christian families have returned to Mosul during January and February,” he underlined. Lent is a Christian tradition, encompassing a 40-day penitential period of prayer and fasting that precedes Easter. In late September 2008, Christians in Ninewa were subjected to threats and attacks that forced many of them to leave their houses. A wide-scale security operation was conducted on September 14, 2008 to restore security and stability to the province and to return the displaced persons to their homes. Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa province, lies 405 km north of Baghdad. SH (S)/SR 1