IRAQ: Churches in Mosul come under attack

By John Pontifex

St George's Church in Baghdad, which was badly damaged in a previous round of bombing in Iraq

Shock and fear have gripped the Church in Iraq after two explosions on Tuesday with the threat of more to come.

The Al Beshara (Annunciation) Syrian Catholic Church in Mosul was the first to be targeted, at around 10.30am, when a bomb was placed against an outside wall of the building.

 A minor explosion took place with damage to the wall. Nobody was hurt, but youngsters at a nearby nursery school had a lucky escape.

Within a few hours of the first attack, a second, much bigger bomb had gone off at the Al Gahera (Our Lady of Purity) Syrian Orthodox Church, also in Mosul.

A number of people were injured in the explosion which caused major damage to the church in the crowded Al Shefaa district in the city centre.

Speaking from northern Iraq in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, Father Bashar Warda, a senior Iraqi priest, described the “fear and shock” of the people, who had been looking forward to Christmas as a time to “lift our spirits”.

Meanwhile, the government in Baghdad has warned Church leaders of further attacks over the Christmas period, urging priests and religious Sisters to be especially vigilant.

Father Warda said the Church would continue its Christmas preparations undeterred.

The Redemptorist priest, who is based in Ankawa, outside the Kurdish capital, Erbil, added: “Normally Christmas is a time when we lift our spirits with a number of festivities so you can imagine what the atmosphere is like here now.

“The shock and the fear of the people is very strong.”

Father Warda said he had spoken to Father Nazen Eshoa, the Al Beshara parish priest.

“Father Nazen – like all of us – is shocked but he wants to continue preparing for Christmas as much as possible,” said Father Warda. 

Father Eshoa was kidnapped for a few days last year, but chose to return to Mosul to resume his ministry. 

It is not yet known who carried out the latest attacks in Mosul, nor do Church leaders know if there is a link between these attacks and the threats declared in Baghdad.

The bombings come less than three weeks after similar attacks – again in Mosul – inflicted serious damage on Saint Ephrem’s Chaldean Church and a nearby convent.

Nobody was hurt in the attacks, on 26^th November, although at least five Chaldean Sisters were in the convent when it came under fire.

Tagged with

• Iraq
• Persecution

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