Pope Francis greets the crowd as he arrives to celebrate Mass at Franso Hariri Stadium in Irbil, Iraq. Photo: CNS 11,000 families have been resettled and “several hundred churches reconstructed” in Iraq by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), according to ACN Ireland’s Director, Dr Michael Kinsella.
He described the organisation as “emboldened” and “encouraged” by the Pope’s trip to Iraq last weekend, which saw the Pope visit many of the sites decimated by Islamic State.
“Islamic State had something of a ‘rolling thunder’ operation, which was not just about the triumph of Islam, but the extinction of Christianity,” Dr Kinsella explained.
This comes on the back on comments by Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan during the Pope’s visit to Qaraqosh in Iraq, which saw the patriarch commend ACN among others for their work in helping to rebuild Christianity in Iraq.
ACN’s Nineveh Plains project has supplied €49.5 million in funding to the Church there over the past decade, which according to Dr Kinsella, has seen what was “seemingly irretrievably destroyed brought back from the brink”.
The Pope’s presence in Qaraqosh has been received as highly symbolic, with images of a tabernacle and chalice from the area having gone viral on the internet in 2019 after being used as target practice by Islamic State militants.
“The reality is that what has been rebuilt is still very small and still very fragile,” Dr Kinsella said, continuing, “the work has only begun”. Dr Kinsella was quick to add that while the situation has improved drastically, “Christians are still in a very dangerous situation in Iraq”.
Iraq’s Christian population has plummeted from one and a half million in the early years of the 21st Century to around 250,000 now, but Dr Kinsella is optimistic that the future is bright for Christianity in Iraq, despite the challenges.
“We ensure our pastoral and humanitarian approaches are united,” Dr Kinsella said. “The mission of ACN is the mission of the Church.”