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Father Martin Banni in front of St. Barbara’s Shrine carrying the Eucharist on Liberation Day in 2016.

Iraqi priest recounts night of exodus, ISIS invasion a decade later

Aug 7, 2024

By Georgena Habbaba

For Father Martin Banni, pastor of St. Korkis Chaldean Church in Karamlesh, Iraq, the memories of Aug. 6, 2014, remain... Read more

A center for internally displaced persons, most of whom are Christians, in Dawodiya, Iraq, April 10, 2016.

Trump signs law to aid Christians in Iraq, Syria

Dec 11, 2018

By Christine Rousselle

President Donald Trump signed into law Tuesday the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act, which seeks to ensure... Read more

Hartford archdiocese, Knights of Columbus partner to aid Islamic State victims

Apr 18, 2018

In a partnership with the Knights of Columbus, Catholics in the Archdiocese of Hartford are fundraising money to aid the... Read more

Bashar Warda, Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil, who said the Nov. 28, 2017 Mass in Washington, D.C.

Memorial Mass held in US for victims of Islamic State

Nov 28, 2017

In observance of a week promoting awareness of Christians persecuted internationally, the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil offered a Mass in... Read more

Two siblings walk in an area near Mosul's front line, June 14, 2017. Photo: EU/ECHO/Peter Biro via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

Mosul needs help to rebuild, Iraqi official cautions

Jul 13, 2017

By Hannah Brockhaus

Just days after Iraqi forces completed their recapture of Mosul from the Islamic State, the nation's ambassador to the Holy... Read more

The remains of St. Mary's Syriac Orthodox parish in Homs.

'Roughly half' of Iraqi, Syrian Christians have fled since 2011

Jun 15, 2017

A new report estimates that between 50 and 80 percent of Christians have fled the countries of Iraq and Syria... Read more

Syrian Catholic Archbishop Youhanna Boutros Moshe of Mosul blesses a newly-erected cross in Bakhdida, Iraq, May 2, 2017. Photo courtesy SOS Chretiens Orient.

Blessing of cross begins rebuilding of Iraqi towns destroyed by Islamic State

May 9, 2017

With the blessing of the cross raised up in the city of Bakhdida May 2, the reconstruction of the towns... Read more

A woman at Sharia Al Haman Hope Refugee Campe in Duhok, Iraq, March 28, 2015.

After genocide, what's next for Iraq's Christians?

Sep 8, 2016

By Matt Hadro

After the United States has declared that genocide is taking place against Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq, what... Read more

Internally displaced Christians at a refugee center in Dawodiya, Iraq, April 10, 2016.

For Iraq's Christians, what comes after Islamic State?

May 31, 2016

By Matt Hadro

With thousands of displaced Christians in Iraq subsisting on humanitarian aid, advocates are asking if they have a future there... Read more

Deacon Momica leads a prayer gathering in Erbil shortly after the Islamic State attack on Telskuf, May 3, 2016. Photo courtesy of Deacon Momica.

Iraqi Christians grateful, yet uneasy following foiled Islamic State attack

May 4, 2016

By Elise Harris

After Islamic State militants broke through Kurdish army forces Tuesday, killing one American and three Kurdish fighters, local Christians voiced... Read more

Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart surveys damage from an attack on Christians in Aleppo, Syria, May 2015.

A plea to the US Secretary of State: Recognize anti-Christian genocide

Feb 25, 2016

The U.S. must not ignore the Islamic State’s genocide of Christians. That is the position of a petition drive and... Read more

St. Elijah's Monastery near Mosul, as it appeared in February 2005.

Satellite images confirm: Iraq's oldest monastery destroyed by Islamic State

Jan 22, 2016

St. Elijah's Monastery in Mosul dated back to the sixth century, making it the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq. Muslims... Read more

Watch this video and 'wake up' from indifference to persecuted Christians

Jan 21, 2016

A video that shares the testimonies of people who have personally suffered the persecution of Christians in the Middle East... Read more

Internally displaced children at the Sharia Al Haman Hope Refugee Camp in Dohuk, Iraq, March 2015.

Grim numbers from Iraq: thousands of civilians suffer death, displacement, slavery

Jan 19, 2016

A new United Nations report has tried to count the civilian toll of continuing conflict in Iraq, largely at the... Read more

Iraqis displaced from their homes in Nineveh province by the Islamic State, who are now sheltered at a Syriac Catholic shrine in Erbil.

Most Americans say Islamic State atrocities are genocide

Jan 5, 2016

Most Americans support a broad recognition of Islamic State atrocities against Christians and other minorities as genocide, a recent survey... Read more

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, caliph of the Islamic State.

Dialogue with the Islamic State? Not likely, says Cardinal Parolin

Oct 29, 2015

By Elise Harris

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said that while interreligious dialogue is important, it’s not likely possible with... Read more

Father Jacques Mourad, who recently escaped from the Islamic State.

'It's truly a miracle' – kidnapped Syrian priest escapes from Islamic State

Oct 15, 2015

A Syrian priest who was captured by Islamic State militants in May thought he would die for his faith. Now,... Read more

Christian refugees in Mar Elia parish centre in the Ankawa, Erbil, Iraq.

Iraqi Christians who fled Islamic State share their story

Sep 23, 2015

The plight of Christians in the Middle East was the focus of an educational and fundraising event in Denver on... Read more

The US Capitol building.

Resolution introduced in Congress to call Islamic State atrocities 'genocide'

Sep 14, 2015

By Matt Hadro

Members of Congress introduced a resolution on Thursday to label the atrocities committed by the Islamic State against Christians and... Read more

Islamic State released images showing its militants demolishing Mar Elian monastery outside Al Quaryatayn, Syria, August 2015.

Islamic State destroys ancient Catholic monastery in Syria

Aug 21, 2015

Reports surfaced on Thursday that Islamic State militants have bulldozed Mar Elian Monastery, an ancient structure located just outside a... Read more