On Tuesday Supreme Knight Carl Anderson announced a plan to raise and donate $2 million to help resettle Christian families who were recently displaced by the Islamic State in Iraq. The villages to be rebuilt are located on what is called the Nineveh Plain.
Anderson said in his remarks given at the 135th annual convention of the Knights of Columbus that, “Now we will ensure that hundreds of Christian families driven from their homes can return to these two locations and help to ensure a pluralistic future for Iraq.”
The Islamic State originally seized the area back in 2014 and drove out countless Christians, executing many of them before they had time to flee. In the process ISIS destroyed everything, including Christian churches, monasteries and schools. The Dominican sisters who worked and lived in the area were shocked when they first saw disturbing photographs of, “our churches, homes, schools, and convents, hospitals burned and destroyed after they had been looted.”
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Then last October a coalition of Iraqi forces joined together to retake the area from the Islamic State. Through a series of victories ISIS was pushed back and last month the Iraqi government declared Mosul liberated. Since then Christians have already started coming back to the area.
According to the Knights of Columbus, “It costs about $2,000 to resettle one family … so a thousand donations of $2,000 will reach the goal of $2 million. One hundred percent of the money raised will be used for the project” of rebuilding and resettling. The Knights of Columbus see this as a project vital to the future of Iraq and hope that the presence of Christians will help establish a just society for future generations.
If you would like to donate toward this fund, visit the Knights of Columbus website.
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