The Church of the Immaculate Conception was left damaged and scarred after two years of ISIS rule. Reuters
ishtartv.com - christiantoday.com
Carey Lodge , 17
January 2017
As
Iraqi Christians begin to return to their homes to asses the damage left in the
wake of Islamic State, they have found churches desecrated, burned and
grafittied.
The
Church of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh, 20 miles from Mosul, is
charred, the altar ruined and broken glass litters the floor.
One
local Christian, Manal Matti, told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) of seeing
mannequins strewn across the church grounds, riddled with bullets.
Militants
had used the church as a shooting range.
In
2015, witnesses said churches in Qaraqosh were being used as torture chambers,
with detained Christians forced to convert to Islam.
The
St George Syrian Catholic church in the town was also taken over by ISIS, who
used it as a bomb factory. Statues have been destroyed and entire ceilings
pulled down, and instructions for battle are scrawled on the walls. Hundreds of
bombs and grenades remain in the building.
Father
Sharbil Eeso, priest of the church, was forced to leave Qaraqosh in August 2014
when ISIS overran the town. He recently visited St George's, but though it's
now been liberated, the clean-up cannot yet begin.
"We
are not allowed to clear up the mess yet," he told ACN. "First, the
damage needs to be assessed carefully and documented thoroughly, and that can
only start when the city is safe. Last week, a jihadist emerged from the tunnel
system which IS has built underneath the city. The red brigade of the army
immediately shot and killed him: the boy was about thirteen years old."
But
though it will be a long while before Qaraqosh is safe enough for residents to
return, Father Sharbil is optimistic that it will once again be a thriving
heartland for Iraq's Christians. It was once home to the largest Christian
population in the country.
"Despite
all the damage, I have hope for the future," he said. "If our
security is guaranteed, Christians can continue to live in Iraq. European
Christians could do their best to keep us safe. I want to return to Qaraqosh
when there is electricity and water again, although I think that safety is the
main condition for returning."
Before
the Iraq invasion in 2003, there were around 1.3 million Christians in Iraq.
Some estimates put the current population at around just 200,000.
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