Christians from Qaraqosh, south of Mosul in Iraq, are celebrating after their village was liberated from ISIS last week, as Pope Francis denounced “brutal acts of violence” being carried out by ISIS in Mosul.
In 2014 jihadists swept through Qaraqosh, where an estimated 120,000 Christians lived. They fled when ISIS militants gave them a choice to convert to Islam, pay the Islamic jizya tax, or be killed.
Christians who once fled in terror are now celebrating with singing and dancing, while church bells ring out.
As a coalition of 30,000 men, mainly Iraqi soldiers and Kurdish Peshmerga militia, began their offensive to recapture Mosul and the Nineveh Plain, Pope Francis said that the cruelty of the fighting in the Iraqi city of Mosul “makes us cry, leaves us without words”. Speaking as he gave the Angelus blessing last Sunday, the Pope said “Our souls are shaken by the brutal acts of violence that are being committed for too long against innocent citizens, whether Muslims or Christians.”
The retaking of land from ISIS is only the beginning of the process of rebuilding Iraq, said Iraqi Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil.
Speaking to Catholic News Service last week, Archbishop Warda said that people must “think again about the education, about the curriculum, about all the violent acts that happened during the last years …
“Where is the possibility of creating, of building bridges of reconciliation among the divided community?” he asked.
“We have lived with Islam for 1,400 years. There was a trust in us, and we have to build on this trust – initiatives for the peaceful future.”
He said that celebrating Mass with the displaced was “Eucharist in the fullest sense.”
Suspect in murder of two Mexican priests is arrested
Mexican authorities have arrested a suspect following the abduction and murder of two priests in Veracruz state last month.
Mexico City prosecutors said the unidentified suspect was detained following a carjacking on October 13.
Fr Alejo Nabor Jimenez and Fr Alfredo Suarez de la Cruz were found bound and shot at a roadside outside the city of Poza Rica on September 19.
Veracruz state prosecutors have alleged that the clerics were drinking with their killers beforehand. That angered Church leaders who criticised what they called a campaign to smear the victims.
Meanwhile, the vice-postulator of the Cause of Mexico’s newest saint, St José Sanchéz del Rio, said the canonisation should embolden the nation’s priests to continue their ministry with trust in God.
Antonio Berumen said that for priests in Mexico, especially those who denounce the activity of drug traffickers and find themselves targeted for attacks, the life of St José, who was canonised by Pope Francis earlier this month, is a call to place their “full trust in God”.
Site of Moses’ death reopens
The memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo has reopened to the public amid festivities, after nearly a decade of restoration.
Traditionally believed to be the site where Moses saw the Promised Land and died, a church and monastery are perched atop a 3,300ft mountain facing the northern end of the Dead Sea. It is one of the most important pilgrimage and archaeological sites in Jordan and the Holy Land.
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