A bone-chilling fear seems pervasive throughout many of Baghdad's Christian communities. It started with the church massacre and became much worse this week when terrorists started attacking congregation members where they live.
But in the northern city of Mosul, fear has been endemic for the past five years. "You want to know our situation?" asked Father George Fatuhi, from the Mar Boulos Chaldean Catholic Church in central Mosul. "The attacks started in 2003 and they haven't stopped. Can you imagine this: there were 4,000 Catholic families living here back then and now around 20 percent remain.
"My church has been attacked four times. Sometimes on Sundays we have only 20 people at mass. If these attacks continue, I don't think you will find one Christian left in Iraq."
On Wednesday, a commemoration mass inside Our Lady of Salvation Cathedral, still stained with the blood of two dead priests and the terrorists who killed them, turned into a summit about the future for a growing group of reluctant Iraqis.
"This is our grandfathers' land and we do not want to leave," said Chaldean Patriarch, Cardinal Emmanuel Delli. "We should encourage Iraqis to stay. We want peace and we want security."
Iraq's Christians form new militias to combat Islamic extremists