Cathedral ISIS destroyed in Iraq’s largest Christian town to be rebuilt in 2020
When the Islamic State emerged in Iraq in 2014, tens of thousands of Christians were forced to flee their homes, with many seeking refuge in the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
The Islamic State killed Christian civilians, forced some to convert to their deluded interpretation of Islam, and destroyed or desecrated churches in cities like Mosul, which it controlled for years.
Even with reconstruction efforts underway in some areas that used to have large Christian populations in Nineveh, very few Christian residents have returned to their villages and cities because of the continued presence of Islamic State sympathizers, ongoing security incidents, the presence of sectarian militias, and a lack of basic infrastructure and services.
“In 1980, 1.8 million Christians lived in Iraq; however, unconfirmed data in 2014 showed that only 400,000 Christians remain in Iraq,” Joseph Slewa, a former lawmaker in the Christian bloc of Baghdad's parliament, said in August.
Read More: Former lawmaker says number of Christians leaving Iraq rising
Whatever their exact number, the armed conflict, mass displacement, and campaigns of ethnic cleansing that have been endemic for decades have left the Christian community in Iraq more decimated and vulnerable than at any time in modern history.
