Chaldean Patriarch visits Mosul, three years after Islamic State took city

June 12, 2017

Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako of Baghdad visited Mosul this weekend, touring some of the churches and monasteries that were recently liberated from the Islamic State.

The Chaldean Patriarch led a delegation of Catholic prelates on the trip to Mosul, and met with Major General Najim Abdullah al Juburi, the leader of the Iraqi forces in the campaign to drive the Islamic State from northern Iraq. The bishops stopped to pray at several of the churches that were demolished by the Islamic forces.

The Patriarch’s visit occurred on the third anniversary of the date when the Islamic State seized Mosul. The tour, which was heavily publicized by the Catholic media and by Iraqi outlets, was designed to encourage Christians who fled their homes to return to Mosul.

 

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Further information:

• Three years on, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Baghdad, Louis Raphael Sako returns to Mosul districts taken back from jihadist militia (Fides)