Once home to one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East, Iraq today is in danger of losing Christianity completely. The Islamic State group forced thousands of Christians to flee after it stormed through the Nineveh Plains in 2014. Some have now returned, following IS’s military defeat. But even with IS gone, in many areas of Iraq daily life is governed by Sharia (Islamic law) and Muslims are forbidden to leave Islam.
Kurdistan elections: Christian parties want ‘real needs’ of minority to be heard
The Christian minority in Iraqi Kurdistan is hoping for its “real” representatives to be voted into the Kurdish regional parliament this Sunday, 30 September, reports Kurdish news service Rudaw. The presidential and parliamentary elections in the semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq are the first after a referendum last year in […]
‘Iraq without Christians is like a garden without a rose’
Four years ago this month, the northern Iraqi city of Qaraqosh, or Baghdeda in the Syriac language, was invaded by the Islamic State group, forcing most of its population to flee for their lives. Prior to IS’s invasion, 50,000 Christians resided in Qaraqosh, 97 per cent of the population. October […]
Nineveh Plains Christians ‘slowly returning to normal’
Four years since IS seized the town of Karamles in northern Iraq’s Nineveh Plains, the local Christian community are “returning, albeit slowly, to normal”, AsiaNews reports. Hundreds of Christians joined in a procession following a Mass at the weekend, holding candles and chanting psalms, to celebrate their return and the new life […]
Iraqi archbishop tells USAID delegation to hurry up aid delivery
An Iraqi Catholic archbishop has said he and other bishops are “delighted” that the US aid arm is to make good on a pledge to send aid directly to non-Muslim communities recovering from ISIS’s occupation of their towns and villages, but warned “time is running [out]”. Archbishop Bashar Warda of […]
US to fast-track $35m aid to Iraqi Christians and Yazidis
The relief agency of the US government is to fast-track some US$35 million in government aid for Iraqi Christians and Yazidis who were terrorised by Islamic State (IS), after Vice President Mike Pence hit out at “bureaucratic delays” in the funds’ distribution. USAID is to give $10 million to two US-based umbrella […]
Iraqi Christian Rita was sold four times on the IS sex slave market
Rita, a Christian woman from the Iraqi town of Qaraqosh, was 26 when Islamic State invaded her town and took her captive. She was sold and bought four times as a sex slave before she was freed in 2017 and reunited with her father in April this year, almost four […]
Muslims and Christians unite to restore ancient Iraqi church
An historical Christian site in Iraq is receiving visitors again for the first time in 20 years, having previously been shut off due to security concerns, Al-Monitor reports. The remnants of the first-century Church of Kokheh, located 20 miles (32 kilometres) south of the capital Baghdad, were discovered and excavated […]
Chaldean Patriarch congratulates surprise Iraqi election winner
The Chaldean Patriarch, Louis Sako, has telephoned Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr to congratulate him on his unexpected victory in the country’s recent parliamentary elections. The Patriarchate also said that Sako told Sadr he hoped for a government that promotes the common good of all the Iraqi people. According to […]
Praying for a peacemaker: What do Iraq’s elections mean for the remaining Christians?
Iraqis go the polls on Saturday (12 May) for the first time since the military defeat of Islamic State, whose campaign of terror against non-Muslims pushed thousands of the country’s last Christians to flee their homeland. Only about 200,000 to 300,000 Christians are thought to remain in Iraq now, mostly […]
The Mosul church that tells the story of a city
“One story of Mosul today can be told through a church in ancient Mosul that was once used by ISIS,” begins a photo essay by Mosul journalist Ali Y. Al-Baroodi. Al-Baroodi, a photographer and translator based in Mosul, has been documenting the destruction and recovery of his home city. His […]