Iraqi prime minister reopens two historic Catholic churches in Mosul

Georgena Habbaba By Georgena Habbaba for CNA

September 2, 2025 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 0 Print

 

Iraqi Prime Minister reopens the Church of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of the Hour in Mosul. / Credit: Ismail Adnan/ACI MENA

ACI MENA, Sep 2, 2025 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

In the city of Mosul, Iraq, an official celebration was held on Monday, Sept. 1 to mark the reopening of the churches of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception known as Al-Tahera Church (for Syriac Catholics) and Our Lady of the Hour ((within the Dominican Monastery), after their full restoration.

The event was attended by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, several government officials, and representatives of the organizations that supported the reconstruction.

The city of Mosul, Iraq, witnessed an official celebration on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, marking the reopening of the churches of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception known as Al-Tahera Church (for the Syriac Catholics) and Our Lady of the Hour for (Dominicans), after their full restoration. Credit: Ismail Adnan/ACI MENA
The city of Mosul, Iraq, witnessed an official celebration on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, marking the reopening of the churches of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception known as Al-Tahera Church (for the Syriac Catholics) and Our Lady of the Hour for (Dominicans), after their full restoration. Credit: Ismail Adnan/ACI MENA

Speaking inside the Church of the Immaculate Conception, al-Sudani declared: “This church rises from the rubble to represent the house where the Lord gathers people’s hearts without division or hostility, in a coexistence as old as Iraq itself.” He emphasized that the reopening is a return to “the spirit of Mosul and the brotherhood that unites its people.”

Archbishop Benedictus Younan Hanno, bishop of Mosul and its surroundings for the Syriac Catholics, urged the prime minister to extend the same care shown to Iraqi heritage toward “rebuilding the Christian people.”

He stressed: “The people of Nineveh need your care and attention, and someone to listen to their cries, especially your sons and daughters from the Christian community.”

Hanno noted that around 80% of Iraq’s Christians today “suffer violations and denial of their rights,” with many forced into exile.

“Iraqi Christians migrated under compulsion, leaving their homeland in tears and pain, and they continue to look forward to returning, longing to see Iraq as a beautiful country again, able to embrace its Christian children alongside their brothers from other communities,” he said.

Following the speeches, Hanno, al-Sudani, and other participants rang the church bell and planted an olive tree in its courtyard as a symbol of peace. The prime minister then moved on to the Dominican Monastery to reopen the Church of Our Lady of the Hour.

Archbishop Benedictus Younan Hanno, bishop of Mosul and its surroundings for the Syriac Catholics, urged the Prime Minister of Iraq to extend the same care shown to national heritage sites toward “rebuilding the Christian people.". Credit: Ismail Adnan/ACI MENA
Archbishop Benedictus Younan Hanno, bishop of Mosul and its surroundings for the Syriac Catholics, urged the Prime Minister of Iraq to extend the same care shown to national heritage sites toward “rebuilding the Christian people.”. Credit: Ismail Adnan/ACI MENA

Destruction and restoration

The churches of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of the Hour, together with the Great al-Nuri Mosque and its famous leaning minaret, all located in Mosul’s Old City, suffered extensive destruction during the occupation of the city by the terrorist group ISIS (2014–2017).

After the liberation, UNESCO undertook the restoration of these landmarks as part of its “Revive the Spirit of Mosul” initiative, rebuilding them according to their original designs. The effort was funded by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the European Union (EU).

This story was first published by ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Despair would worsen the situation, bishop says in wake of Somalia attack

October 16, 2017 CNA Daily News 0

Djibouti, Djibouti, Oct 16, 2017 / 03:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After Somalia suffered its deadliest terrorist attack on Saturday, the Bishop of Djibouti reflected on the need for hope and unity among Somalis lest it become “a double attack.”

A truck packed with explosives exploded in front of a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu Oct. 14, killing at least 276 people. Many more were wounded.

“I would say that even though what has happened its a catastrophe, we mustn’t despair. It would be a double attack if we despaired,” Bishop Giorgio Bertin of Djibouti told Vatican Radio.

Bishop Bertin also serves as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Mogadishu, which has been vacant since the assassination of its last bishop in 1989.

The bombing has yet to have been claimed by any group. Some Somalis have reacted to the attack by condemning al-Shabaab, an Islamist militant group associated with al-Qaeda.

Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed called it a “heinous act” targeting “civilians who were going about their business.”

Bishop Bertin commented that “when one goes [to Somalia] the situation seems normal; I could spend five days in Baidoa, two days in Mogadishu. Obviously I was accompanied by an armed escort, but the Somalis seemed to be living normally. It seems like normal life.”

“You might have the impression that they are rather habituated to seeing, undergoing these momentary attacks, but they never seem to change life there.”

The bishop added that he thinks “we should continue to seek greater unity within Somalia and the international community to face this problem.”

Turkey is taking 40 of those injured in the attack for medical treatment, and the African Union has said it will continue its support of Somalia as it works “to achieve sustainable peace and security.”

The US Mission to Somalia stated that it “lauds the heroic response of the Somali security forces and first responders and Somali citizens who rushed to the aid of their brothers and sisters. Such cowardly attacks reinvigorate the commitment of the United States to assist our Somali and African Union partners to combat the scourge of terrorism to promote stability and prosperity for the Somali people and their regional neighbors.”

Somalia has been in a state of turmoil since the early 1990s, and was long regarded as a failed state. It has relatively stabilized in recent years, and has been called a fragile state.

The federal government has consolidated control over much of the southern part of the country, though Islamists still control several swathes of territory. Somalia’s northern areas are effectively governed as the autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland.

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