Monthly Archives: January 2017

By Rudaw TEL KAIF, Iraq – The Chaldean church in Tel Kaif is again full, reopened with the Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon and head of the Chaldean Church, Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako. “Today we brought back part of our dignity,” said Sophian who raised the cross on the…

The senior bishop in the Church of England is trying to stop an Iraqi Christian from being deported after a harrowing escape from ISIS. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has written a letter on behalf of a Christian man who reportedly fled Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in August 2014, after ISIS took over…

Archbishop Yohanna Moshe of Mosul, Iraq, left, and Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, pose for a photo in Iraq. “Confidence and hope” were the feelings reported last week among displaced Iraqi Christians as news emerged that forces combating so-called Islamic State (ISIS) in…

By Alex Williams Scenes of devastation have greeted Iraqi Christians returning to their homes and churches in a town recently liberated from Islamic State. Mannequins were used for firearms practice at the fire-damaged Church of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh, the biggest Christian town in the Nineveh Plains.…

Jardine Malado The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby speaks during an event marking the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in Runymede, Britain June 15, 2015. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has made an appeal to stop the deportation of an Iraqi Christian who fled his home in Mosul when ISIS seized the city in…

By Richard Hall Ismail al-Kanon had been held captive for more than a year, and threatened with execution more times than he cared to remember. But this time was different. The people who held him, ISIS fighters, found in his possession a picture of Jesus and two small crosses. They took the items away, burned…

By Catholic News Agency Banner mortars left by islamic state fighters in front of a house in qaraqosh iraq november 2016 credit jaco klamer acn Erbil, Iraq, Jan 24, 2017 / 12:03 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- “I don’t understand how people can harm each other so much,” sighs security guard Louis Petrus.…

Lorraine Caballero The Islamic State turned a Christian church in the Iraqi town of Tel Kaif into a training center for the Caliphate’s children where the kids would stay for a couple of weeks before they are sent to battle, according to an eyewitness. (REUTERS / Khalid al Mousily)An Iraqi military vehicle is seen next…

By IANS The Islamic State is using the main church of Tel Kaif as its military headquarters | Photo: Pictorial Representation Baghdad: The Islamic State is using the main church in the northern Iraqi town of Tel Kaif as its military headquarters.…

Iraqi forces retook Qaraqosh from ISIL late last year, but for residents finally returning home, the ordeal continues. Claire Thomas | Battle for Mosul, ISIS, Iraq, Middle East The Batlos family fled Qaraqosh more than two years ago, when ISIL fighters captured the city. They recently returned home for the first time, only to discover…

By Murcadha O Flaherty and Jaco Klamer IRAQI CHRISTIANS returning to their homelands trashed by Daesh (ISIS) have described the horror of finding their houses burnt and their churches desecrated. Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, eye witnesses reported “the…

By Rudaw TEL KAIF, Iraq – ISIS has destroyed and burnt churches in the Christian town of Tel Kaif, to the north of Mosul. The militants used the town’s great church, the Sacred Heart, as military headquarters. According to an eyewitness, ISIS had changed the name of this church to ‘Abu-Talha…

Dr. Ramsay F. Dass, MD, President of the American Middle East Christians Congress (AMECC) and Mrs. Natalie Dass, upon receiving an invitation from the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, to attend his inauguration, traveled to Washington, D.C. from January 19-21, 2017 to accept his invitation.…

Interview with deputy state secretary Tamás Török by Jan Mainka in Politics No European citizen, whether Christian or not, should be ignorant about the fate of our soul-relatives in the Near East The Ministry of Human Resources, led by Zoltán Balog, added a new department in…

Jardine Malado Free Burma Rangers appear in a screen shot of a footage of their rescue mission in Mosul As Iraqi forces continue to push their way into Mosul to liberate the city from the Islamic State, Christians who experienced persecution in Burma are risking their lives in war zones in Iraq to help the…

People pick through the rubble of the destroyed Mosque of The Prophet Younis, or Jonah, in Mosul, Iraq, on July 24, 2014. The revered Muslim shrine was destroyed by militants who overran the city in June and imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law. The mosque was built on an archaeological site dating back to…

by Stefan Farrar • ChurchMilitant.com • “For me, staying and resisting as a Christian minority is the right way” PARIS (ChurchMilitant.com) – A Chaldean archbishop is asking Iraqi Catholics to stay in Iraq to help rebuild the ISIS-ravaged country. While visiting Paris, Abp. Yousif Mirkis remarked, “For me, staying and resisting as a Christian minority…

By Murcadha O Flaherty A CHURCH source in Egypt has told a Catholic charity that extremist Islamists are carrying out daily atrocities against Christians – including kidnapping and murder. The source, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, told international charity Aid to the Church in Need: “There are many extremists Muslims who commit…

By Dale Gavlak | Catholic News Service An Iraqi soldier stood guard during Christmas celebrations at the al-Tahira al-Kubra church in al-Hamdaniya, east of Mosul. Bishop Oscar Cantu, the chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, said after a visit with Iraqi…

ByPaul Antonopoulos – Iraqi forces stormed on Thursday the town of Tel Kaif in northern Mosul as only a few regions remain to be liberated from ISIS on the the eastern side of the Tigris river. An Iraqi military statement has said that it’s forces have entered the town from several axes.…