Mosul’s Housh al-Bai’ah Churches left in ruins, only one rebuilt

By Shafaq News

January 17, 2025

In Mosul’s Old City, the Housh al-Bai’ah complex, once a site of Christian heritage containing four churches, remains largely in ruins with only one church within the complex has been fully restored.

This slow pace of reconstruction has left many Christian families hesitant to return.

A Community Devastated

Priest Raed Adel, who oversees Mosul’s churches, detailed the extent of the destruction. “The number of churches completely or partially destroyed in central Mosul, excluding the plains and outskirts, is 35. Only a few have been partially rebuilt,” he told Shafaq News.

“Since the transformations Iraq has gone through, particularly during ISIS’s control, Christians have been heavily targeted. Churches and places of worship were burned, properties destroyed, and families forcibly displaced,” Adel said.

“The Christian population in Mosul dropped from 50,000 to just 3,000 by 2014, and after that, no Christians remained in the city,” he added.

While some families have returned since ISIS’s defeat in 2017, their numbers remain minimal.

“Today, only 60 to 70 Christian families are left in Mosul. Many more want to return but need sincere support from the government and international organizations,” Adel emphasized.

Iraq’s Christian population, which exceeded 1.5 million two decades ago, has now dwindled to fewer than 250,000. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom attributes this decline to targeted violence, political instability, and a lack of governmental support.

UNESCO’s Role in Restoring the Houshal-Bai’ah Complex

The Housh al-Bai’ah, a complex that includes churches of the Syriac Catholic, Syriac Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, and Chaldean Catholic traditions, has seen minimal reconstruction. The one church, however, that has seen reconstruction, is the Church of al-Tahera for Syriac Catholics, which was restored as part of UNESCO’s Revive the Spirit of Mosul Initiative. The Church of al-Tahera has been fully rebuilt with support from UNESCO and funding from the UAE. The Pope even prayed there during his visit to Iraq.

UNESCO’s Revive the Spirit of Mosul Initiative, launched in 2018, aims to rebuild key cultural landmarks destroyed during the war with ISIS. While the UAE has provided critical funding, the organization remains dependent on international donations to expand its scope.

However, Ayoob Thanoon, head of the Mosul Heritage Foundation and ambassador for UNESCO’s initiative, clarified that the project still has some limitations.

“The restoration of al-Tahera was completed three months ago, but there is no funding to rebuild the other churches in the Houshal-Bai’ah complex,” Thanoon said.

UNESCO’s efforts have also extended to other prominent landmarks, including the Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Hour, which was restored in April 2024. However, financial constraints remain a significant barrier to further progress.

“UNESCO operates based on the funding it receives,” explained Rakan al-Allaf, UNESCO’s director in Mosul. “The UAE’s financial contributions were allocated to rebuilding the al-Nuri Mosque and its leaning minaret, and the al-Tahera Church, which is over 250 years old. But we have no funding for the Syriac Orthodox Church of al-Tahera, the Armenian Orthodox Church, or the Old al-Tahera Church.”

Challenges and Hope for the Future

While UNESCO has drawn up plans to restore these churches, no country has offered the necessary financial support yet.

“We’ve prepared a program to reconstruct and restore these churches, but no grants have been provided to start the work,” al-Allaf said.

Mosul’s Houshal-Bai’ah Churches struggle to recover from ISIS destruction

The historic churches of Houshal-Bai’ah in Mosul are grappling with significant neglect, with only one of them having been fully restored. Despite their cultural and religious importance to the region, many of these churches remain in disrepair.

Father Raed Adel, the head of Christian churches in Mosul, told Shafaq News that 35 churches, monasteries, and Christian worship centers were either partially or completely destroyed in central Mosul, not including the surrounding areas. Only a few have been partially rebuilt.

Father Adel explained that the targeting of Christians escalated after ISIS took control of Mosul, with churches burned, Christian properties destroyed, and families forced to flee. As a result, the Christian population in the city dropped from 50,000 in 2014 to just 3,000, with no Christians remaining in Mosul after the militant group’s occupation.

"Some displaced Christians have returned to Mosul after 2017, but everything was in ruins," Father Adel added. "It wouldn't be difficult for Christian families to return if the government and international organizations provide real support."

Currently, only 60-70 Christian families remain in Mosul, with more families expressing interest in returning, contingent on government provisions.

UNESCO initiatives in Mosul's restoration efforts

UNESCO has played a significant role in the restoration of Mosul's cultural heritage, focusing on the city's historic churches and landmarks. One of the major achievements was the full restoration of the Church of Al-Tahera, a Syrian Catholic church in the Houshal-Bai’a hcomplex, which was completed with the support of the UAE. This church, a symbol of Mosul's Christian heritage, was also the site of a historic prayer led by Pope Francis during his visit to Iraq.

In 2021, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Christian Endowment Bureau, UNESCO drafted plans for rebuilding the Church of Al-Tahera to its original state, following its destruction by ISIS. This restoration was part of UNESCO’s broader initiative, "Reviving the Spirit of Mosul," which aims to preserve and restore the city's cultural landmarks.

However, other churches in the complex have not received similar attention.
Ayoub Dhonon, head of the Mosul Heritage Foundation and UNESCO's Mosul Spirit Ambassador, stated that while there was financial support for Al-Tahera's restoration, no funding has been allocated for the other churches in Houshal-Bai’ah.

Al-Tahera Church is the second major landmark rebuilt by UNESCO, following the completion of the restoration of the Dominican Fathers' Monastery of Our Lady of the Hour in April 2024.

Rakan al-Alaf, UNESCO’s representative in Mosul and supervisor of the restoration of the Great Al-Nuri Mosque, the Al-Hadba Minaret, and the churches of the Hour and Al-Tahera, explained that UNESCO operates according to available international funding.

"The financial support from the UAE has been designated for rebuilding Al-Nuri Mosque, the Al-Hadba Minaret, and the 250-year-old Al-Tahera Church, all of which have been fully restored," said al-Alaf.

However, he confirmed that UNESCO has yet to receive funding to restore the Syrian Orthodox Church of Al-Tahera, the Armenian Church, and the ancient Al-Tahira Church located at the intersection of Nabi Korkis Street and the Nineveh Road in the heart of Old Mosul.

UNESCO has outlined a program for the restoration and repair of these churches but has not yet received any financial contributions from other nations to proceed with the work.

'The art of cheesemaking' - In Jordan, Church project provides dignified work

By Vatican News 

Deborah Castellano Lubov

Over the past century, Jordan has accepted huge amounts of refugees from neighbouring countries - including crisis-stricken Iraq. 

While many Iraqis have returned home, others have begun to put down permanent roots. 

And, in a Church-run restaurant in the Jordanian capital Amman, many are hard at work producing cheese. 

Helping vulnerable women 

The refugees have been trained by the Habibi Association, founded by the Italian priest Father Mario Cornioli.

In addition to that enterprise with Iraqi refugees, the Habibi Association runs a cheesemaking project that helps women facing grave financial challenges in Southern Jordan, in the village of Adir. 

After a two-hour drive from Amman to the little village, Vatican News had the privilege of seeing with its own eyes their dedication, beginning their production ritual in the early morning. 

The art of cheesemaking

Six women, whose ages range from early 30s until nearly 60, are the protagonists of the initiative. Iklas Bqa'een, is the supervisor.

She told Vatican News that she had studied nutrition and said that this work of producing the Italian cheeses of ricotta and pecorino has been a meaningful way to reconcile her formation and passion with this work. 

The mother of an eight-month-old shyly admitted her dream of opening another restaurant that would thrive through their production nearby. 

Ricotta and pecorini galore 

The Operation Officer of Habibi, Shafik Shahin, showed the facility to Vatican News, which was able to watch the ricotta and pecorino-producing process. 

He explained that the location was ideal because of the great availability of sheep's milk in southern Jordan. 

While the ricotta is ready right away, the pecorino on the other hand needs between two and three months to age, and hence the journey continued into the cave of the facility.

Over the kitchen, there seems to be some extra graces as a comforting image of the Blessed Mother looks over the space, and on the turn of the hour, the bells of the nearby church started chiming an audible, but delightful and unmissable, 'Immaculate Mary.'.

What lies ahead
The projects offer the women and the refugees, both, meaningful opportunities to work, through a collaborative project.

While the wages are not high, they help make a difference by providing some income.

On the other hand, the refugees: while some wish to settle in Jordan, others wish to move on to other countries such as Australia or Canada. In fact, we learned that there are many success stories of those who were able to move to those countries and were able to have meaningful work because of the professional formation and training they received.

This is also thanks to another project Habibi spearheaded which has trained Iraqi refugee women, with the help of an Italian designer, to sew. Not only do they 'sew,' but they have brought to life various pieces that are sold above the restaurant, including clothing, tablecloths, and bags.

Finally, Vatican News travelled to that restaurant in Amman to see the final product - and the cheese on the pizzas did not disappoint.

Patriarch Sako’s New Year Message 2025 Hope for Peace and Goodwill, through Love and Charity.

By Chaldean Patriarchate

 As the New Year dawns, let us put behind us the armed conflict and devastation of the past year which has torn our world asunder, especially in our region, and let us put aside all fear, anxiety and despair.

Instead, may we embrace the coming year with renewed hope for peace and tolerance; and may we become pilgrims of hope, seeking forgiveness and reconciliation by means of a renewed and refreshed mind and culture, whereby we seek the common good, in the pursuit of equality and justice.

May the coming year not only bring an end to discrimination, hatred and war, but also enable us to overcome division, marginalization and sectarianism, and lead us on a path to fraternity, peace and goodwill so that we can all live together in freedom with dignity and security.

This earnest hope calls on everyone to believe in the possibility of salvation from past strife and suffering, and in a commitment to the values of social equality and religious tolerance.

The dawning of a new year offers us a unique opportunity to seek understanding and tolerance for past errors and offences through correcting our ways.

Thereby, we may witness a deep change within ourselves that enables us to live in peace and harmony with one another.

Our human life is brief. While we cannot change the past, we can change the future. We must not lose time in changing the world around us, so that everyone enjoys equality and justice, in a society of love and charity, and thereby returns to a harmonious relationship with God, with one another, and with all of Creation.

I wish you all a peaceful New Year