The small bomb exploded inside the courtyard of the motherhouse just moments after Sister Maria Hanna received an anonymous phone call warning her to get her nuns out of the area.
The recent attack on the Immaculate Virgin convent was nothing new. By Hanna’s count, it was the 20th time the convent in the nearby northern city of Mosul had come under attack since the start of the war.
“One time it was an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade),” said Hanna, ticking off the litany of attacks against the convent that has been her home for 52 years. “One time a car bomb exploded just outside the motherhouse. One time they set fire to a propane can and left it in front of our gate.”
The attacks in Mosul reflect how daily life remains tenuous for many Christians in Iraq, where complex and long-lasting religious conflicts and sectarian violence among Muslim militants persist despite improving security.
Here is an excerpt:
Just days before Christmas, Yusef’s family was startled when they heard some commotion outside their home as they prepared for dinner. Moments later there were series of gunshots that sent the women of the family — the men were still at work — seeking cover in the back of their house.
A few minutes later neighbors were at the door to tell the family that his younger brother, Zaid, lay dead on the street.
Neighbors told Yusef that just before the gunmen killed Zaid they accused him of being a collaborator with the Americans and “an agent against Iraq” — charges he denied as he pleaded for his life, Yusef said.
“Then the gunmen said: ‘Aren’t you a Christian?” said Yusef, who added that his family has applied for asylum and is hoping to be resettled in the USA or Europe. “The neighbors said Zaid said ‘Yes, I am a Christian and I’m an Iraqi like you.’ Then they shot him.”
The few brave and elderly nuns left at the Convent reported in this story need our prayers as they minister and bear witness to the Christians who have not been forced to flee for their lives. There are resolutions before Congress reported in the article which need our support. Please read this article.
About a year ago, when the persecution was fierce, Germany moved to give precedence within the EU to Iraqi Christian refugees, on the grounds that they were most at risk. Slovenia, in the chair for that period, blocked the move. Slovenia, BTW, is a strongly Catholic country. I felt sickened. Not the least of the ironies is that the Christians, sharing a lot of cultural background with us, are more likely to integrate well.