Aleteia logoAleteia logoAleteia
Friday 29 March |
Good Friday
Aleteia logo

The quiet Christians of Mosul: ‘At home, she continued to say The Lord’s Prayer’

FILES-IRAQ-CONFLICT-MOSUL

AFP PHOTO / Joint Operation Command / HO

(FILES) This aerial view taken on June 21, 2017 and provided by Iraq's Joint Operation Command reportedly shows destruction inside Mosul's Nuri mosque compound. Jihadists blew up Mosul's iconic leaning minaret and the adjacent Nuri mosque where their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a "caliphate" in his only public appearance in 2014, an Iraqi commander said. The Islamic State group swiftly issued a statement via its Amaq propaganda agency blaming a US strike for the destruction of the Nuri mosque and the historic leaning Hadba minaret in its vicinity.

Deacon Greg Kandra - published on 07/19/17

Please consider a gift for Aleteia!
Help us spread the joy of Christ's victory.
Aleteia depends on your support.

Join our Lenten Campaign 2024.

DONATE NOW

Monday, The New York Times correspondent Rikmini Callimachi posted a series of tweets that reminded the world of the resilience and hope of Christians who survived life in Mosul. Together, they offer a snapshotof one woman’s efforts to continue her faith:

In West Mosul, we were introduced to 1 of only [a few] Christians who stayed during ISIS’ rule.  She described how they announced on the mosque speaker that Christians needed to convert, leave, or else pay a jizya, or religious tax. A Shariah judge forced her to convert by reciting the shahada, which states “There is no God except God & Mohamed is his messenger”. She was given a signed & stamped form titled “Proof of Islam” saying that she had converted.  When she recited “There’s God but God & Mohamed is his messenger,” in her heart she apologized to the God she’d worshipped as a Christian. “I was about to cry,” she told me. “Deep inside my heart, I said forgive me God. If I don’t do this I will be killed.” At home she continued 2 recite Lord’s Prayer. When ISIS came 2check on her, her Muslim neighbor covered 4her. “She prays w/ us” they said. She remains so afraid of being discovered by ISIS, she asked me to withhold her name. All she would allow me to photograph were her shoes.
smaller

There’s more on her Twitter page.

Pray for these Christians, struggling to remain faithful under the most horrific and frightening circumstances.

Enjoying your time on Aleteia?

Articles like these are sponsored free for every Catholic through the support of generous readers just like you.

Help us continue to bring the Gospel to people everywhere through uplifting Catholic news, stories, spirituality, and more.

jour1_V2.gif
Daily prayer
And today we celebrate...




Top 10
See More