Monthly Archives: November 2016

By Afp Father Charbel Issu stands before a shattered altar, spreads out his hands and begins leading a group of Kalashnikov-wielding militia fighters in prayer. “Our father who art in heaven,” they chant. “Hallowed be thy name.”…

Photojournalist Ayman Oghanna has been embedded for weeks with an Iraqi special forces unit seeking to retake the city of Mosul from so-called Islamic State. Here, he recalls his time with a member of the unit who died in a bomb attack. Ahmed “Talqa” was killed on Friday.…

By Leah Marieann Klett (news@gospelherald.com) After ousting IS militants from towns near Mosul, Iraq, Christian militias have reported of the devastation the group left behind, including the destruction of precious icons and ancient texts in the 4th-century monastery of Mar Behnam. Fighters with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) stormed the Saint Behnam…

U.S. Chaldean Bishop Francis Kalabat chats with an audience member prior to the start of a a panel discussion about the survival of Christianity in the Middle East at The Catholic University of American in Washington Nov. 17. (CNS/Tyler Orsburn) Richard Szczepanowski Catholic News Service…

Pershmerga fighters inspect Al Tamera Syriac Catholic parish in Qaraqosh, Iraq, after the city’s recent liberation from Islamic State. Photo courtesy of Fr. Roni Momika. Mosul, Iraq, Nov 22, 2016 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Two years after the sound of church bells was replaced by the sound of explosives in Bashiqa, Iraq, just north…

By Moni Basu, CNN Bartella, Iraq (CNN)Behnam Lalo crunches over jagged glass and tiptoes around a fallen altar, burned Bibles and a decapitated porcelain Virgin Mary. He picks up a cross from a heap of rubble and wipes away ashes with his priest’s robes. He recognizes the cross immediately; he used it at confirmation ceremonies…

 Carey Lodge Hundreds of thousands of Christians fled the Nineveh Plain in Iraq when ISIS overran the region in 2014.Reuters Many Iraqi Christians are too terrified to return home after ISIS, but one priest has vowed that the Church will “never, never give up” hope of Christianity flourishing in the country again.…

By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter (Photo: Reuters/Mohammad Ismail)Afghan Shi’ite Muslims men mourn over the grave of a victim who was killed in Tuesday’s attack at the Sakhi Shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 12, 2016. Bishop Francis Y. Kalabat of the Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle said that the…

Iraqi Kurdish fighters and locals have gathered at a Christian church in the liberated city of Bashiqa. They restored the crucifix atop the building as its church bells chimed. The crucifix of the Church of Saint George was removed while Islamic State jihadists took control of the city in 2014.…

Jardine Malado (REUTERS/Azad Lashkari)Zarifa Badoos Daddo (C), 77, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Erbil, Iraq. Zarifa was reunited with her family on Sunday after Iraqi forces drove Islamic State from the town of Qaraqosh, southeast of Mosul.…

Reuters BASHIQA, Iraq: The bells have rung out after two years of silence in the Mar Korkeis church in the town of Bashiqa, some 15 kilometers north of Mosul, Daesh’s (ISIS) last major city stronghold in Iraq. Kurdish Peshmerga fighters retook the town on Nov. 7, ending two years of rule by the hard-line group…

Iraqi Christians take part in a procession to erect a new cross over the Mar Korkeis church, after the original cross was destroyed by Islamic State militants, in the town of Bashiqa, Iraq, By Mohammed al-Ramahi and Azad Lashkari | BASHIQA, Iraq The bells have rung out after two years of silence in the Mar…

By Anugrah Kumar , Christian Post Contributor (Photo: Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)Iraqi special forces soldiers walk inside a church damaged by Islamic States fighters in Bartella, east of Mosul, Iraq, October 21, 2016. As Iraqi assault troops begin to enter key parts of Mosul city for the first time in two years, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr…

Lorraine Caballero Iraqi Christians are starting to return home for the first time in more than two years to once again worship at churches desecrated and destroyed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). (Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)Iraqi priests hold the first Sunday mass at the Grand…

By Samuel Smith , CP Reporter (Photo: Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)An Iraqi Christian prepares for the first Sunday mass at the Grand Immaculate Church since it was recaptured from Islamic State in Qaraqosh, near Mosul in Iraq, Iraqi Christians who survived living under Islamic State rule in occupied territories are…

Richard Szczepanowski CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE Chaldean bishop demands action to end anti-Christian genocide U.S. Chaldean Bishop Francis Y. Kalabat chats with an audience member prior to the start of a a panel discussion about the survival of Christianity in the Middle East at the Catholic University of America in Washington Nov. 17. Bishop Kalabat heads…

Local residents and Kurdish militia fighters have restored a cross to the top of Saint George’s church in the Iraqi town of Bashiqa. The cross was destroyed by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) jihadists after they captured the town two years ago.…

A Christian militia fighter poses with a portrait of Jesus inside the church of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh Credit: Campbell MacDiarmid/Telegraph Campbell MacDiarmid, in Qaraqosh, Iraq Youno Karemi Achem stood in the doorway of the church and surveyed the damage left…

By Premier Journalist Up to 50,000 Iraqi Christians of all denominations are expected to gather today to pray for their nation. The event has been organised by Life Agape and the Chaldean Catholic Church and will be broadcast by the Christian Satellite network SAT-7.…

Jardine Malado (REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah)An Iraqi priest holds the first Sunday mass at the Grand Immaculate Church since it was recaptured from Islamic State in Qaraqosh, near Mosul, Iraq, last Nov. 30. Iraqi Christians wept when they saw the condition of the church in the Iraqi Christian…