Carey Lodge
Christians openly wept as they gathered in their church in Karamles
in Iraq on Sunday, which had been desecrated during two years of ISIS
rule.
According to Associated Press, shattered glass covered the floor, a
tomb had been severely damaged and a statue of the Virgin Mary had been
beheaded.
Karamles was overrun by Islamic State in 2014 but was liberated three
weeks ago as part of the offence to retake Mosul that began on October
17.
An ancient Assyrian town less than 18km from Mosul, about a third of
the Christians from Karamles have fled in the last two and a half years,
but the majority now live in displaced persons camps in Kurdistan.
Some returned on Sunday to take part in a prayer service at the St Addai church, led by Rev Thabet Habib.
Almaz Sleiman, 54, was among them. She cried throughout the
gathering. "First when you see it of course it's unsettling, and then
you cry because of the situation here and the conditions we are living
in now," she told AP.
"Honestly I cannot describe the way I feel."
Sahir Shamoun, another former resident of the town, said he and his
wife had returned to Karamles to find their house still standing, but
looted.
"I feel great sadness," he said. "I'm not sure when or if I'll be back. I think of my children, will they have a future here?
"You put the cornerstone for your home, but still you know it's not yours. But we are stubborn people, we will keep building."
Father Thabet currently ministers to his displaced congregation in Erbil, but has returned to Karamles several times now.
Last month, he raised a cross covered with flowers on a hill overlooking the town.
"I am so happy I can do this. I'm smiling from cheek to cheek and I
weep tears of joy at the same time," he said at the time, according to World Watch Monitor. "This is the trip I have been praying for, for two years now."