SW News:

In 2014, Islamic State militants destroyed the Great Al-Tahira Immaculate Conception Cathedral in the northern Iraqi city of Bakhdida along with a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary which sat atop the historic church’s bell tower. Well, seven years on, the I.S. militants are gone; the cathedral has been restored and, now, the Blessed Virgin Mary is back gazing over the city. Here’s the scene as the sizable Marian statue was hoisted back into place this month. Bakhdida, also known as Qaraqosh, is situated 20 miles southeast of the city of Mosul. It sits on Iraq’s Nineveh Plains, a part of the country where Christianity has been present since the first century. That unbroken history was threatened in 2014 with the invasion of Islamic State who destroyed the city’s Syriac Catholic cathedral and used its outer courtyard for target practice. I.S. was pushed out in 2016, however, and Christians have been returning to the city ever since.