Convent reopening is milestone as Iraqi Christians return

ACN has hailed the reopening of a convent in a village devastated by extremists as a sign that Christianity can once more flourish in Iraq’s Nineveh Plains.

The charity helped rebuild the Dominican Sisters’ new convent and kindergarten in Batnaya, which replaces buildings razed by Daesh (ISIS) during the jihadists’ occupation of the village from 2014 to 2016.

ACN (UK) national director Dr Caroline Hull, who visited parts of the Nineveh Plains seized by Daesh, said the new convent was a sign of new life in a town where militants had smashed altars, decapitated statues and daubed anti-Christian messages on church walls.

Around 5,000 – mostly Chaldean Catholics – fled the village in 2014. Some went to IDP camps, while others emigrated.

ACN backed projects to help rebuild key buildings in the Christian-majority village, which was on the frontline of fighting between Daesh and coalition forces. Widespread booby-trapping and an extensive underground tunnel system created by Daesh delayed the start of reconstruction work in Batnaya.

The Dominican Sisters returned in 2017 and began ministering to the families who had come back to Batnaya.