Mosul, Iraq, Mar 30, 2017 / 23:53 pm
The desolation of a burned Iraqi church left Argentine-born missionary Father Luis Montes with the firm conviction that Satan is at the root of the attacks, and Christians must pray for the conversion of ISIS.
"The one who is behind everything is the devil, behind ISIS and the rest of the jihadist groups, and behind the people who support them, some by a similar fanaticism and others for various interests," the priest said upon visiting the heavily damaged Church of Saint George in Bartella, recently freed from the Islamic State group.
Fr. Montes said that these forces are in reality attacking Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the human race. "But since they cannot harm him, they attack his churches, his faithful, in memory of him," he said.
"It really shakes you up to see a sacred place burned, vandalized, desecrated," he said on his Facebook page March 24. "You're left speechless seeing what you already knew from photos and testimonies. It makes your blood run cold."