Iraqi Christians Determined to Stay
Life is very difficult for Iraq’s Christians. Following Pope’s Francis’s historic visit to the Middle Eastern country, Iraq’s remaining Christians are determined to stay and are hopeful their brothers and sisters living abroad may return to their ancestral homeland.
By ACN Staff
Pope Francis in Al-Tahira Syriac Catholic church, Qaraqosh. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
Iraq has been in turmoil ever since the 2003 invasion. Everyone has suffered hardship and loss, but Iraq’s Christians have suffered disproportionately. In the chaos that engulfed Iraq after the initial invasion there were a series of attacks on the country’s Christians by Islamist groups such as Al Qaeda. In the most infamous of these attacks, around 50 Syriac Catholics were killed when Al Qaeda attacked Sayidat al-Nejat Syriac Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad during October 2010.
The outside of Sayidat al-Nejat Syriac Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad during Pope Francis’s visit. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need/Xavier Bisits)
Things became even worse when ISIS invaded and occupied Iraq’s Christian heartland, the Nineveh Plain, in 2014. The Christians were forced to flee for their lives in the face of ISIS’s brutality. Many of the Christians then left Iraq to go to the USA, Australia, and Western Europe.
It is hoped that Pope Francis’s historic visit to Iraq will prompt change to allow Iraqi Christians to live in the ancestral homeland and will also help to encourage Iraqi Christians living abroad to return. One of the highlights of Pope Francis’s visit to Iraq was his time in the northern Assyrian Christian town of Qaraqosh, which is located 20 minutes from ISIS’s former capital in Iraq, Mosul. Qaraqosh’s Christian population was forced to flee from ISIS. The town was largely left in ruins following ISIS’s occupation, including the town’s historic Al-Tahira Syriac Catholic church, which was desecrated by the Islamist. With the help of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the church was rebuilt in time for the Papal visit. Pope Francis led the Angelus in the newly reconstructed church.
Before ISIS invaded, Qaraqosh had a population of around 55,000 Catholics. Fr. Ammar Yako, who helps displaced families from the area, believes around 23,000 Catholics have now return to Qaraqosh. The remaining of the town’s Catholics are mostly living in the USA, Australia and Western Europe. Few of the families that went abroad have returned, but it is hoped that the joy and celebration of the Papal visit may encourage those abroad to return home.
Catholic children in Qaraqosh during the Papal visit. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need/Xavier Bisits)
Many of the Catholics living abroad do want to return home. Thirty-year-old Revan Possa is on the board in charge of Qaraqosh’s reconstruction. He said the following:
“We have heard about families from Qaraqosh who cried when they saw photos of the trip and are thinking about returning home…We need safety and support from the West to stay here. I like this land and I want to stay here.”
Joseph Giuliana, a 44-year-old husband and father, works as a teacher. He has been building a family home in Qaraqosh and has become even more determined to stay in his ancestral land after the Pope’s visit:
“We needed this visit to fill us with hope again: the hope that we have the right to stay here and live here as the original people of this land…For Christians here, as well as those living as refugees in Europe and America, we all think that this visit gives them hope of life for Christians in Iraq. I am one of them. With the Pope’s visit, we feel that we are not alone. We feel that we are safe because someone cares about us.”
Qaraqosh’s Catholics still face many struggles. Their town is surrounded by Shia militias. Much of the town still needs to be rebuilt and around 70% of the youth are unemployed. The Faith remains strong in Qaraqosh. Weekly Mass attendance stands around 70%. Please join ACN in prayer that the Faith will remain strong with Iraq’s Christians. If you want to learn more about ACN’s work in Iraq please visit out Lenten Campaign page.