Catholic Church Targeted in Baghdad on Easter Sunday

Sacred Heart Church in Baghdad (Photo Source: (Al-Iraqi)

BAGHDAD, (Reuters) - A roadside bomb exploded near an entrance to a Catholic church in Baghdad on Easter Sunday, wounding two police officers and two civilians, an Interior Ministry source said. The blast struck a police vehicle providing security at the Sacred Heart church in Baghdad's central Karrada district, the source said.

Last October, 52 people died in an assault on a Syrian Catholic cathedral in central Baghdad. The attack was the bloodiest against Iraq's Christian minority since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Iraqi Catholic Child's
First Communion

Iraq's Christians once numbered about 1.5 million but are now believed to have fallen to less than 850,000 out of a population of 30 million.

Hundreds of Christian families have fled to Iraq's northern Kurdish region or to nearby countries since the October assault on the cathedral, the United Nations has reported.

Easter Sunday marks the resurrection of Christ after his crucifixion.