ishtartv.com - indcatholicnews.com
April
11, 2017
On 9
April hundreds of Christians celebrated Palm Sunday in burned out churches in
Qaraqosh and Karamles, towns near Mosul that were recently liberated from the
self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS).
Qaraqosh
was Iraq's largest Christian town until its 50,000 inhabitants were forced to
flee in August 2014. The displaced Christians haven't been able to move back to
Qaraqosh since the liberation of the town, as there is continuing insecurity in
the region, and houses and infrastructure have been destroyed.
But
for one day, they were able to go back and celebrate their faith. Hundreds of
Christians marched through the streets of Qaraqosh, some carrying big banners
saying 'Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord, hallelujah' or
'Hosanna for the Son of David', others walking with palm leaves, remembering
Jesus' entry to Jerusalem when he was welcomed by people waving palm leaves.
They then held a church service in the burned and damaged church. "Thank
God, we are returning to our towns and churches after two years," said one
of the church leaders in Qaraqosh.
Between
400 and 500 church members also returned to Karamles to celebrate Palm Sunday.
Karamles is a Christian village that was home to 800 families before the
invasion of IS; despite being liberated, the damage to the village means that
families haven't been able to return yet. But Father Thabet, the local church
leader, organised for the church to be cleaned and repaired in the week leading
up to Palm Sunday so that displaced Christians could return to celebrate.
Father
Thabet said, "I am very happy we could do so. After the church service we
had a meal on the hill of Saint Barbara. Seeing all the people made me cry. I
was very happy to return and celebrate, this was very significant for me and
for many people from Karamles."
He
is planning to move a big generator to Karamles after Easter, so that families
that want to begin repairing their homes will have access to electricity. A
house next to the church is being turned into a Centre of Encouragement and
Support, where people can stay while they work on their homes.
"But
this week we will have our preparations for the celebration of Easter,"
Thabet said. "We will have that celebration in Ankawa. We already had the
celebration at Palm Sunday and it takes much to organise going to our
village."
Father
Thabet is hopeful for the future: "This year we are waiting to return back
to our place and we hope we can celebrate the full Easter next year in
Karamles."
Iraq
is number 7 on the 2017 Open Doors World Watch List. Open Doors has been
working with local partners and churches in Iraq for over 20 years to support
the church through training, crisis relief, community development projects, and
distributing Bibles and Christian literature. Open Doors local partners have
provided vital aid for tens of thousands of displaced families, and are working
to provide long-term support to displaced Christians as they begin to rebuild
their lives, including helping families who wish to return to the Nineveh plain
to rebuild their homes, and starting small businesses to give people the dignity
of supporting their own families.
Open
Doors has launched the Hope for the Middle East campaign, a global, seven-year
campaign mobilising Christians around the world to stand with the church in the
Middle East. As part of this, Open Doors is asking people to sign the One
Million Voices of Hope petition, which will be presented to the UN in December
2017. The petition calls for equality, dignity and responsibility for
Christians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq, the key things Christians
and church leaders from these nations have said they want for the future.
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