SW News: The rebuilding of a convent destroyed by ISIS in Iraq’s Nineveh Plains has been hailed as a powerful sign of the rebirth of Christianity in its cradle. The new convent of the Dominican nuns in Batnaya was rebuilt with the help of the Pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

During the ISIS occupation lasting from 2014 to 2016, the militant hordes ravaged all the buildings of Christians, including the convent. They also indulged in smashing altars, chopping off the heads of sacred statues and spraying anti-Christian slogans on church walls.

ACN (UK) national director Dr Caroline Hull said the new convent was a sign of new life in the town. “Visiting Iraq, I saw the suffering of those forced out of their villages by armed extremists – which is why it is vital that we continue to help those who want to return to their villages to do so.”

She said that Batnaya turned into a ghost town after the occupation of the Islamic State and no one hoped that it would be resuscitated. However, the blessing of the new convent last month has shown that there is hope for the Christian community in the Nineveh Plains. “The presence of nuns in this village is a sign of encouragement for all the people of the village to return too,” said Chaldean Archbishop Paul Thabet of Alqosh during the consecration ceremony.

He told the nuns that they are a sign of the faith that is necessary to rebuild the village. “Wherever monastics come, they can change the desert into a paradise, and the presence of the nuns and their coming to the stricken and demolished village is a sign of great reconstruction. We are not only rebuilding stones, we are restoring humanity,” the archbishop added.

“We Christians in Iraq have a deep wound, this wound must be healed by faith,” the archbishop said. The prelate also wants the Christians who fled from Batnaya to return. “Your name and identity are in Batnaya and your roots are in Batnaya, not in the places of emigration,” he said during the ceremony.

During the Islamic State occupation, close to 5,000 believers, mostly Chaldean Catholics, abandoned Batnaya and went to IDP camps as well as Western countries. Ever since the defeat of the Islamic State, ACN has been financing the rebuilding of Batnaya, including the Chaldean Catholic Church of St Kyriakos. The church was reopened for worship during Easter last year.