Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home Features

Brisbane plays a role as churches help Iraqi Christians displaced by Islamic State

byCNS
24 November 2021
Reading Time: 7 mins read
AA
Iraqi medical students with Archbishop Mark Coleridge

Shaping Iraq's future: Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge with Iraqi students Ban Isaqi (left), Hana Keka and Dr Saveen Oghana (right). The students have now returned to Iraq to take up key hospital and education roles.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By CNS and staff reporters

WALKING through the mainly Christian town outside of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, it’s easy to see many changes since the victims of Islamic State militants fled here for safety seven years ago.

Gone are the tents and caravans that dotted church yards and open fields to house those escaping forced conversion to Islam or death at the hands of the Islamic State militants in 2014.

A photo from 2016 shows young women use their phones in a camp for internally displaced families in Ankawa. Many of the tents and caravans that dotted church yards and open fields have disappeared as church groups try to help Christians rebuild since the ouster of Islamic State militants. Photo: CNS

Colourful laundry once hung from balconies, while some people slept on church pews.

The cavernous concrete skeleton of a shopping mall then sheltered 2,500 displaced people.

Support from Catholic and other churches built and cordoned off rooms on three-storeys; each room housed a single family, and all shared basic cooking and bathroom facilities.

The unfinished structure has given way to the Ankawa Mall, where people can food shop at the French Carrefour supermarket, eat in a Turkish restaurant or buy Hello Kitty accessories at a Japanese import shop.

In 2017, the Iraqi military and U.S.-led coalition troops forced out Islamic State fighters.

Since then, Catholic churches and organisations have worked hard to address challenges faced by Iraq’s historic Christian community and other religious minorities.

Pope Francis arrives in a golf cart to visit the destroyed Al-Tahera Syriac Catholic Church in Mosul, Iraq, March 7, 2021. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

“People have faced tremendous difficulties and wounding by the Islamic State,” said Fadi, an Armenian Christian worshipping at a local church.

Related Stories

Escaping ISIS at 97 years old, Shami Eso is overjoyed ‘with the power of God’ as she settles into Brisbane

Medical couple studying in Australia returning home to run Iraq’s first and only Catholic hospital

Is there a militant resurgence in Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority nation?

“We are still experiencing the practical effects of loss and trauma.”

Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil stewarded the building of four schools, a university and a hospital, providing local people with badly needed employment, with assistance from Stephen Rasche, who is counsel to the Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil.

Brisbane has played a key role in Archbishop Warda’s vision of Erbil’s reconstruction.

The new Maryamana Hospital in Ankawa is managed by Saveen Oghana and Ban Isaqi, an Iraqi couple who Archbishop Warda sent to Brisbane to study at Australian Catholic University and have now returned home to manage it.

People exit the Maryamana Hospital in Ankawa, Iraq. The Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese of Erbil opened the hospital to serve the wider community. The new hospital is managed by Saveen Oghana and Ban Isaqi and staff come from Christian and Muslim backgrounds. Photo: CNS

ACU offered the couple scholarships as a way of supporting the Archdiocese of Irbil’s aim of setting up a hospital and a university.

Archbishop Warda also chose Hanar Keka to take up a scholarship from the Ursuline Sisters to study at Brisbane’s ACU campus and then to return to his archdiocese for a key role in education.

Hanar Keka: Studied in Brisbane as part of Archbishop Warda’s plan to restore education for the people.

“We cannot surrender to the argument that religion is a source of violence,” Archbishop Warda said.

“Our Lord is there for all. As his followers we need to make that clear and lead the way with education.”

Archbishop Bashar Warda
Archbishop Warda’s vision is to restore high-quality health and education services, and help Christians return to their towns and villages.

Celebrating its first graduating class in October, the Catholic University in Erbil initially opened its doors in 2015 when Islamic State militants carried out a genocide against Iraq’s religious and ethnic minorities.

Rasche, who is also the university’s vice chancellor, said the initial course offering develops practical skills needed in Iraq such as business administration, IT, finance and accounting.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, in which Christian and Muslim students participated, Cardinal Louis Sako said “the Catholic Church has distinguished itself since the first centuries of its founding for its cultural and social institutions: schools, universities, charities for the poor, hospitals and charitable clinics.”

Cardinal Sako, who is also Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic patriarch, expressed hope that “religious education” is offered to all students, not only Christian or Muslim, but will embrace different faiths so that students “can know the points in common and avoid extremism.”

Father Emanuel Youkhana, who runs the Christian Aid Program Northern Iraq (CAPNI), a Christian program for displaced Iraqis around the northern city of Dahuk, said his organisation provides instruction on Eastern Christianity.

“It’s a matter of Eastern Christian identity, which for the past 2,000 years has been rooted in Iraq,” he said of the need to ground people.

“We are focusing on two parallel lines. One is capacity building of the church through catechism, Bible studies, liturgical courses, and summer classes.

We work in Dahuk, Ankawa, Kirkuk, and (the) Ninevah Plain with more than 24 parishes involved.”

“We are also working on Syriac promotion, which is the mother language of the Eastern church.

“We have 2,000 years of Syriac literature, theology and archival material,” said Father Youkhana, a priest, or archimandrite, of the Assyrian Church of the East.

“Often, we only deal with the outcome and the consequences of the catastrophe such as health, infrastructure, livelihood needs, but we must still address the roots of the problem.

“And we are focusing more and more on this,” to tackle the ideology behind the Islamic State tragedy.”

Father Emanuel Youkhana (middle), meets Iraqi Christians who opened a mobile phone shop on the Ninevah Plain following the defeat of the Islamic State from the area. Father Youkhana, an archimandrite of the Assyrian Church of the East, runs the Christian Aid Program Northern Iraq (CAPNI) a Christian program for displaced Iraqis around the northern city of Dahuk. Photo: CNS

Fr Youkhana said CAPNI has worked to revise the curriculum in social science and history books for government schools in grades 1 to 9 throughout the Kurdish region to include Iraq’s entho-religious diversity.

“People will graduate with a positive knowledge about Yazidis, about Christians. It is part of their history. If you don’t know the other, how do you respect them or feel solidarity with them?” Father Youkhana said.

CAPNI is also operating five children’s centres, each with 150 children, ages 6-13, from different religious backgrounds.

They are given “informal education, not just math or languages but arts, sports … environmental awareness, like how to keep the area clean, etc,” Fr Youkhana said.

“We are encouraging Yazidi children to celebrate religious holidays with Muslims and vice versa.”

The new Maryamana Hospital in Ankawa has staff from Christian and Muslim backgrounds. A recent visit to the hospital saw a Shiite cleric enter the facility to pay his respects.

“The hospital is open to all,” Rasche said, adding that the Catholic Church also provided health clinics to aid people during the 2014-2017 conflict against Islamic State.

Cardinal Sako called the social, cultural, education and health initiatives undertaken by the Catholic Church a way to “prepare for a future of coexistence” in Iraq, while offering opportunities for an exchange of experiences and knowledge in anticipation of challenges that lie ahead.

ShareTweet
Previous Post

The search for heeling, soleful (but not at all holey) Christmas gifts

Next Post

Pledges from major parties to combat violence against women and children

CNS

Related Posts

People

Escaping ISIS at 97 years old, Shami Eso is overjoyed ‘with the power of God’ as she settles into Brisbane

16 July 2019 - Updated on 1 April 2021
Iraqi medical students with Archbishop Mark Coleridge
News

Medical couple studying in Australia returning home to run Iraq’s first and only Catholic hospital

20 July 2018
Church bombed in Indonesia
News

Is there a militant resurgence in Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority nation?

16 May 2018 - Updated on 1 April 2021
Next Post
domestic violence

Pledges from major parties to combat violence against women and children

Q&A – What do we know about the wedding of Our Lady and St Joseph?

Q&A – What do we know about the wedding of Our Lady and St Joseph?

Guardian of the Word: Pope Francis assured the faithful of St Joseph’s powerful intercession as a guardian.

Pope Francis says St Joseph is God’s answer to Cain’s question

Popular News

  • From a humble start Albanese is sworn in as new prime minister

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Catholic environmentalist says Australia has failed as God’s caretakers of earth following interim report

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What is the difference between a Sacramental and a civil marriage?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Life ‘is always sacred and inviolable’, Pope Francis says

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Myanmar military burns houses, destroys a village
News

Myanmar military burns houses, destroys a village

by CNS
24 May 2022
0

THE Myanmar military is accused of burning down an historic Catholic village during a raid. At least...

Life ‘is always sacred and inviolable’, Pope Francis says

Life ‘is always sacred and inviolable’, Pope Francis says

23 May 2022

From a humble start Albanese is sworn in as new prime minister

23 May 2022
Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

20 May 2022
Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

20 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping