QARAQOSH (IRAQ) – As Islamic State fighters were making advancements across northern Iraq in 2014, Mazen Shemes’ nine-year-old son met with a fatal end from a mortar. The family had to bury him quickly before leaving along with thousands of other Christian families the same night.
Five years later the 47-year-old farmer makes his return to the town of Qaraqosh, part of a wave of people who, with the support of church leaders, started living on its empty streets. They built back ravaged homes from extremist militants and the fighting that ousted them.
Shemes, standing in his garden where young trees are growing, “This is our land. We can’t just abandon it and leave.”
Pope Francis will visit the town’s restored Grand Immaculate Church, considered the largest in Iraq, on Sunday as part of a four-day tour of the country formulated to strengthen the morale and also point out the difficulties some Christian communities face.
For the Catholic clergy who were in the forefront during the reconstruction work and helped families return to the town near Mosul, his trip evokes in them a sense of pride.
Father Ammar Yako, a local Syriac Catholic priest who has been overseeing the renovation of the Grand Immaculate Church in Qaraqosh since 2019, said, “”We try to do as much as we can. But then, God remains the one who decides what will happen to us.”
The clergy were among the first to return to the town, the main centre of Hamdaniya district, after getting freedom from Islamic State.
Father Ammar recalled his shock at seeing the destruction, said, “Over 2,000 houses were burned. Others were torn apart by airstrikes against the militants. There was no water or electricity.
The imposing Grand Immaculate Church had been vandalised by the militants and ravaged by fire. But Father Ammar was thankful that it was, at least, still standing. “I started thinking that maybe we would be able to rebuild it.”
Local church leaders from different denominations came up with a plan to encourage families to return to the town of 50,000 people, by raising funds mainly from foreign Christian non-governmental organisations.
Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul Yohanna Petros Mouche, adding that churches would come next, said, “We decided to start by rebuilding houses so that people would come home.” Father Georges Jahola was put in charge.
After making a team of around 20, Father Georges started to track the city, assess the damage and allocate funds for the aid of families. Over half the damaged homes have been restored.
Some 2,000 houses in the town continued to be uninhabited, and church leaders are against the idea of permitting Iraqis from other areas to move in.
“If we lose our land, we lose our identity,” Father Georges explained, showing the Christian enclave of Qaraqosh engulfed by land allocated to other religious groups, which according to locals, could pose a threat to their town’s identity.
Father Ammar hopes worshippers will soon be able to attend service regularly in the Grand Immaculate Church, which is a grey and yellow stone building with a distinct red roof, which has a unique impresson among the surrounding houses.
Volunteers were recently taking part in cleaning and decorating the building prior to the pope’s visit. Traces of burning inside the church remain, a stark reminder of the vulnerability of the Christian community in Iraq.