SW News: Winds of hope are still blowing over Iraq, where Christians are trying to begin a new life following the end of the dreaded days of ISIS occupation. Dozens of worshippers gathered together for the Holy Eucharistic celebration on Saturday, April 30, in a church in Mosul in northern Iraq for the first time since it was rebuilt after being desecrated by Islamic State insurgents when they occupied the region from 2014 to 2017.

The 19th century Mar Tuma Syriac Catholic Church was used as a prison and a court during the period of occupation during which it was stripped of all religious symbols and icons. Parts of the church were also damaged by fire and shelling. Although the church was opened for worship, the restoration activities will continue.

Parish priest Father Pios Affas expressed gratitude to those behind the restoration work, which he said had "restored the church back to its past glory, as it was 160 years ago."

A new bell was installed at the church during a ceremony attended by scores of people in September 2021. An AFP correspondent reported that the 285-kilogram (almost 630-pound) bell cast in Lebanon rang out on Saturday to joyful cheers from believers before the Holy Mass began.

The Nineveh Plains, which are home to ancient Christian communities, were ravaged by the hordes of Islamic State insurgents during the three-year occupation. Hundreds of thousands of Christians and Yazidis were forced to flee during that period and churches and monasteries were ransacked and desecrated. It was in 2017 that they were flushed out by Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition airstrikes.

Meanwhile, the believers in the town of Qaraqosh hailed the opening of a long-awaited Catholic school on Sunday, May 1. After years of misery, finally, Christians can send their wards to the new Al Tahira Secondary school belonging to the Dominican Sisters of St Catherine of Siena.

The historic visit of Pope Francis in March 2021 turned the tide in favor of the Christian minority, giving them renewed hope to begin afresh. Several churches destroyed by the Islamist insurgents were rebuilt, and the Christians who fled their homeland started to return. The initiative to return usurped homes and properties to their lawful owners—mostly Christians and Yazidis—was another notable impact of the pope's visit.

In Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, where there is a significant Christian population, the local government declared the Ankawa suburb a Christian district with its separate administration. As a result, the Assyrian Church of the East now has its permanent office and patriarchal residence there.