Nineveh Conference 28 Sep. 2017 – “Return to the Roots”
“Facilitate the Return and Guarantee the Protection”. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin calls for the respect of the rights of Christians in Iraq. The Cardinal was speaking at a conference organized by the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) on Thursday 28 September in Rome [...]
Celebrations mark the return of Iraqi Christians to Nineveh
By John Pontifex in Iraq ABOUT 500 Christian families from Iraq celebrated their long-awaited homecoming to the Nineveh Plains with ceremonies on Sunday, 10th September marking a fresh start in their old towns and villages. In Qaraqosh (Baghdeda), the largest of Nineveh’s Christian towns, priests and people holding olive branches [...]
ACN updates Pope Francis personally about NRC efforts
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) updated His Holiness Pope Francis personally about the charity’s ongoing reconstruction efforts for the Christians seeking to return to their homes in the Nineveh Plains, Iraq. During a private audience granted to the International Catholic Legislators Network (ICLN) on 27 August 2017, ACN's [...]
Up to 15,000 more Christians returning home this month
Within just one month up to 15,000 displaced Iraqi Christians are expected to return to the town in the ancient Nineveh Plains which suffered the worst violence carried out by Daesh (ISIS). The return of an expected 3,000 families to Qaraqosh comes amid growing concern among parents to secure places [...]
Bartella is coming to life again after IS the first Christians are returning home
Aid to the Church in Need and the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee have finished restoring the first 17 houses in the Christian village on the Nineveh Plain. The families who have returned home are saying, “Our life, our history is here. This is where we want to live.” Erbil (Iraq), [...]
“Although the city of Mosul has been liberated militarily, there is still another battle ahead”
Archbishop Amel Nona was the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul when ISIS invaded the city in 2014 forcing the Christian communities to flee. The archbishop found shelter together with his flock in Telkef and in other Christian villages on the Nineveh Plains. This refuge was short-lived: during the night of [...]
Iraq: Eye witness report of Monsignor Petros Mouche, Archbishop of Mosul
Iraq: Eye witness report of Monsignor Petros Mouche, Archbishop of Mosul Now that Mosul has been liberated, will the Christians be able to return to their homes soon? According to Msgr. Petros Mouche, Syriac Catholic archbishop of the second largest city in Iraq, it is too early for this, but [...]
U.S. passes bill aiding Christians and Yazidis victims of genocide
“In response to the ISIS genocide against Christians, Yazidis and other religious and ethnic minorities, the House of Representatives unanimously passed (6th June) the bipartisan Iraq and Syria Genocide Emergency Relief and Accountability Act to concretely help them in Iraq and Syria,” the rapporteur Rep. Chris Smith says. Among other [...]
146 Christian families return to Qaraqosh
Fr. Majeed: «I am really happy when I bless their new houses» In the last weeks 146 Christian families, that had been living in Ankawa (Erbil) as "displaced people", returned home, to Qaraqosh. They left their city three years ago because of the Islamic State, who attacked the Nineveh Plains [...]