ISTANBUL, December 6 (CDN) — Attacks against Christian Assyrian businesses in northern Iraq over the weekend, which local sources said were organized by a pro-Islamic political party, marked the first such destruction of Christian establishments in the Kurdish region. ....
ERBIL, Iraq, October 11 (CDN) — Little Nuria and her sisters love singing songs about Jesus. But when people Nuria doesn’t know ask her if she’s a Christian, she doesn’t know what to answer; instead, she looks questioningly at her mother or father. She is 6 years old and ....
ISTANBUL, August 16 (CDN) — An insurgent blast left a church building in Kirkuk, Iraq severely damaged on Monday (Aug. 15) in a second round of attacks against the city’s Christian community in two weeks. The bombing of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Mar Afram was the only ....
ISTANBUL, August 3 (CDN) — A car blast outside a Syrian Catholic church in Kirkuk, Iraq yesterday morning left 13 wounded as police located and disarmed two more car bombs targeting churches in the city, according to area sources. Online video images of the attack against ....
ISTANBUL, May 18 (CDN) — A pastor in Kirkuk, Iraq told Compass that sources close to a Christian reportedly kidnapped, tortured and murdered by al Qaeda over the weekend said the kidnappers had pressured his employer to fire him because he was a Christian. The body of ....
ISTANBUL, November 2 (CDN) — Amid questions about lax security, mourners gathered in Iraq today to bury the victims of Sunday’s (Oct. 31) Islamic extremist assault on a Syrian Catholic Church in Baghdad, one of the bloodiest attacks on the country’s dwindling Christian ....
ISTANBUL, May 5 (CDN) — At least 50 Iraqi Christian students are receiving hospital treatment following a bomb attack on Sunday (May 2) outside Mosul that killed at least one person and has forced nearly 1,000 students to drop classes for the rest of the semester. Nearly ....
ISTANBUL, March 5 (CDN) — Political tensions ahead of parliamentary elections in Iraq on Sunday (March 7) have left at least eight Chaldean Christians dead in the last three weeks and hundreds of families fleeing Mosul. “The concern of Christians in Mosul is growing in the ....
ISTANBUL, September 22 (CDN) — Islamic kidnappers in Kirkuk, Iraq last week dumped a Christian doctor in critical condition in front of a mosque after 29 days of torture and threats to him and his family. Thanks to his 23-year-old daughter’s negotiations with the ....
April 28 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, April 28 (Compass Direct News) – Gunmen in Iraq shot five Chaldean Catholic Christians in their Kirkuk homes on Sunday (April 26) in two separate attacks, killing three and injuring two. Cousins Suzan Latif David and Muna Banna David were ....
ISTANBUL, April 27 (CDN) — Gunmen in Iraq shot five Chaldean Catholic Christians in their Kirkuk homes on Sunday (April 26) in two separate attacks, killing three and injuring two. Cousins Suzan Latif David and Muna Banna David were killed at 10 p.m. in a suburb of the ....
November 17 (CDN) — Asya Ahmad Muhammad and fatherISTANBUL, November 17 (Compass Direct News) – In prison at the age of 14 for having fatally stabbed her uncle in northern Iraq, Asya Ahmad Muhammad’s early release on Nov. 10 thanks to a juvenile court decision was ....
November 14 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, November 14 (Compass Direct News) – In this Turkish city’s working-class neighborhood of Kurtulus, Arabic can be heard on the streets, signs are printed in the Arabic alphabet and Iraqis congregate in tea shops. In 99-percent Muslim ....
October 19 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, October 19 (Compass Direct News) – Amid escalating violence against Christians, Iraqi church leaders have appealed directly to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for increased efforts to curb the continuing attacks In Mosul. In a meeting with ....
September 23 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, September 23 (Compass Direct News) – An unknown group of armed men killed a Syrian Catholic in violence-plagued Mosul, Iraq two weeks after his father was kidnapped and murdered. The gunmen killed Rayan Nafei Jamooa near his home on Sept. ....
May 30 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, May 30 (Compass Direct News) – An Iraqi pastor jailed on kidnapping charges and held for 30 days in the Kurdish region last month has said the real reason for his arrest was religious. Writing from Dohuk, 400 kilometers (250 miles) north ....
May 20 (CDN) — Archbishop Paulus Faraj RahhoISTANBUL, May 20 (Compass Direct News) – Iraqi church leaders have spoken out against the death sentence given to the alleged murderer of a Chaldean bishop kidnapped in northern Iraq in March. The Iraqi Central Criminal ....
March 20 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, March 19 (Compass Direct News) – Days after the body of a kidnapped archbishop was found buried in northern Iraq, fresh kidnappings and murders continue to haunt the country’s Christians this Passion Week. “We have people threatened, ....
March 13 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, March 13 (Compass Direct News) – An Iraqi archbishop kidnapped and held for ransom for 14 days has been found dead in northern Iraq in what appears to be an attempt to force Christians out of the city, church leaders said. Chaldean ....
March 6 (CDN) — Archbishop Paulus Faraj RahhoISTANBUL, March 6 (Compass Direct News) – Kidnappers have set today as the ransom deadline for the release of an Iraqi Archbishop abducted last week, a church leader said. The unidentified captors also added new ....
March 3 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, March 3 (Compass Direct News) – Kidnappers are demanding a huge ransom for a Chaldean Archbishop abducted last week in northern Iraq, sending fear through the country’s Christian community, a local priest said. Since the Friday (February ....
January 18 (CDN) — Kirkuk’s Chaldean Cathedral (Ankawa.com)LOS ANGELES, January 18 (Compass Direct News) – A car-bomb exploded outside a Chaldean church in northern Iraq yesterday, injuring two people, a Baghdad bishop said. The blast is the 10th reported attack ....
January 7 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, January 7 (Compass Direct News) – Four Iraqi churches and three convents were damaged in coordinated bomb blasts yesterday morning, the day many Iraqi Christians celebrate either Epiphany or Christmas Eve according to some Eastern ....
October 22 (CDN) — Father Pius Affas and Father Mazen Ishoa ISTANBUL, October 22 (Compass Direct News) – Two Iraqi priests kidnapped more than a week ago said they returned to their Mosul parish in good health yesterday morning and immediately celebrated mass. Captors ....
October 19 (CDN) — Father Pius Affas and Father Mazen IshoaISTANBUL, October 19 (Compass Direct News) – Kidnappers have given Iraqi church leaders only 24 more hours to raise ransom money for the release of two priests, a church leader said today. Syrian Catholic ....
October 15 (CDN) — Father Pius Affas and Father Mazen Ishoa(photo: Douglas al-Bazy )ISTANBUL, October 15 (Compass Direct News) – An Iraqi bishop said today that he is negotiating for the release of two Christian clergymen kidnapped in Mosul this weekend. Syrian ....
July 26 (CDN) — Asya Ahmad Muhammad ISTANBUL, July 26 (Compass Direct News) – Iraq’s Kurdish regional high court has reduced jail time for a teenager who fatally stabbed her uncle as he beat her for converting to Christianity and “shaming” the family by working in ....
June 27 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, June 27 (Compass Direct News) – For one man, the release of eight kidnapped Christians from his hometown of Qaraqosh on Friday (June 22) was bittersweet. Ten days prior, his own brother-in-law, Fouad Salim, had not been so fortunate when ....
June 22 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, June 22 (Compass Direct News) – Christian university students and faculty kidnapped two days ago on their way home from exams at Mosul University were released today, an Iraqi satellite TV channel reported. According to Ashtar TV, two ....
June 18 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, June 18 (Compass Direct News) – An Iraqi Chaldean priest kidnapped 12 days ago in Baghdad was released yesterday, a church leader said. Father Hani Abdel Ahad was released Sunday (June 17) at 1:30 p.m. in Baghdad, Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop ....
June 13 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, June 13 (Compass Direct News) – Iraqi church leaders continue to hope for the release of a priest kidnapped exactly one week ago, even as the number of threats against Christian families in the Iraqi capital tops 1,000, church sources ....
June 5 (CDN) — Mourners at Fr. Ragheed Ganni's funeralISTANBUL, June 5 (Compass Direct News) – Iraq’s Chaldean community yesterday mourned the deaths of a priest and three deacons shot on Sunday night (June 3) by unknown assailants in the northern Iraqi city of ....
May 22 (CDN) — ISTANBUL, May 22 (Compass Direct News) – A Chaldean priest kidnapped in Iraq on Saturday morning (May 19) was released last night. Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni told Compass from Baghdad that he had personally collected Father Nawzat ....
May 21 (CDN) — St. George Assyrian Church in Baghdad ISTANBUL, May 21 (Compass Direct News) – Church leaders in Iraq reported that kidnappers have demanded a huge ransom for the release of a Chaldean priest abducted in Baghdad over the weekend. “They ....
April 30 (CDN) — Fr. Douglas Yusuf Al-Bazy ANKAWA, Iraq, April 30 (Compass Direct News) – Strangely enough, Iraqi priest Douglas Yusuf Al-Bazy laughed and joked as he began to retell the details of his kidnapping and torture. “I’m not afraid any more,” the Chaldean ....
April 18 (CDN) — Baghdad's Christians and their churchesare threatened with destructionERBIL, Iraq, April 18 (Compass Direct News) – Iraqi Christians fled their homes over the weekend after armed Sunni extremists threatened to kill them if they did not convert to ....
March 30 (CDN) — Margaret (left) and Fadhila NaoumISTANBUL, March 30 (Compass Direct News) – The murder of two Christian women in their Kirkuk home this week highlights growing insecurity facing Christians, often targeted for money in war-torn Iraq. Kirkuk ....
March 1 (CDN) — Asya Ahmad Muhammad ISTANBUL, March 1 (Compass Direct News) – A Christian child has been sentenced to five years in juvenile detention in Northern Iraq for fatally stabbing her Muslim uncle while he beat her for converting to Christianity, her ....
December 22 (CDN) — Christian Village in Nineveh PlainDecember 22 (Compass Direct News) – A new plan for Christian self-autonomy within Iraq’s Kurdish region has sparked debate among Iraqi Christian leaders desperate to halt the mass exit of Christians from Iraq. With ....
December 15 (CDN) — Asya Ahmad Muhammad December 15 (Compass Direct News) – A 14-year-old convert to Christianity faces murder charges for stabbing her uncle to death in northern Iraq. Asya Ahmad Muhammad is on trial in Dohuk city’s Juvenile Court for plunging a ....
December 12 (CDN) — Father Samy Al-Raiys December 12 (Compass Direct News) – A Chaldean priest kidnapped in front of his Baghdad home last week was released Sunday (December 10), the Chaldean Patriarchate has reported on its official website. Father Samy Abdulahad ....
December 4 (CDN) — December 4 (Compass Direct News) – Grieving Christians in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul completed three days of mourning for a murdered Presbyterian Church elder yesterday, only hours before another Iraqi clergyman was grabbed off the streets of ....
November 29 (CDN) — November 29 (Compass Direct News) – Anonymous kidnappers released a Chaldean Catholic priest in Baghdad last night, nine days after he was last seen celebrating mass in his Baghdad parish. The captors dropped Father Douglas Yousef Al-Bazy on a ....
November 21 (CDN) — November 21 (Compass Direct News) – Chaldean church leaders today said they fear that an Iraqi priest in Baghdad who has been missing for two days may have been kidnapped. Chaldean priest Douglas Yousef Al-Bazy was last seen leaving his parish ....
November 10 (CDN) — Bombed church entranceNovember 10 (Compass Direct News) – Unknown assailants bombed the entrance of a Catholic church in Mosul last week, destroying three sets of doors as well as windows in the church, monastery and guest house. A source near the ....
October 12 (CDN) — Father Boulos IskanderOctober 12 (Compass Direct News) – Iraqi kidnappers who abducted a Syrian Orthodox priest three days ago left his beheaded corpse in an outlying suburb of the northern city of Mosul last night. Father Boulos Iskander, 59, was ....
September 13 (CDN) — Fr. Saad SiropSeptember 13 (Compass Direct News) – A Chaldean Catholic priest taken hostage nearly a month ago was set free by his captors in Baghdad on Monday night (September 11). Father Saad Sirop confirmed his “miracle” release to Compass, ....
August 17 (CDN) — August 17 (Compass Direct News) – Iraqi church leaders issued appeals today for the release of a Chaldean Catholic priest kidnapped in southeast Baghdad yesterday morning. In an e-mailed statement, Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk Louis Sako called for ....
July 8 (CDN) — July 8 (Compass) -- Beneath the rubble of news about bombings, hostage-taking and political wrangling in Iraq lies a more positive picture of fledgling evangelical churches. In the northeast, Iraqi Kurdistan offers a haven for Christian activity as ....
January 18 (CDN) — Archbishop Casmoussa January 18 (Compass) -- Less than 24 hours after armed gunmen kidnapped the Syrian Catholic archbishop of Mosul, the 66-year-old cleric was set free today unharmed.Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa was accosted by armed men ....
October 6 (CDN) — October 6 (Compass) — Written threats, kidnappings, bombings and murder by Muslim extremists are driving thousands of Iraq’s minority Christian population out of their ancestral homeland, fleeing for safety to neighboring Jordan and Syria. An ....
March 16 (CDN) — March 16 (Compass) — Four American Christians working on humanitarian relief projects in northern Iraq were killed and a fifth critically injured when unknown gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in Mosul on March 15. The victims were identified as ....
April 14 (CDN) — (Compass) — “Your prayers for us have made a difference and continue to lift our spirits,” said Christians in Iraq even as they experienced the bombardment of coalition forces against Baghdad, Mosul, Kirkuk, Basra and other cities. One man said that ....
April 14 (CDN) — (Compass) — As the U.S.-led war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein raged, Iraq’s small Christian minority feared more than American bombs. They expected to become targets of a growing tide of Islamic militancy now being encouraged in the ....
March 19 (CDN) — Compass - Hours before a U.S.-led war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein appears poised to begin, Iraq’s small Christian minority fears more than American bombs. They expect to be targeted by a growing tide of Islamic militancy now being ....
March 14 (CDN) — Kurdish Christian Ziwar Mohammed Ismaeel was shot dead in front of his taxi stand last month in Zakho, the northern-most city in the Kurdish safe-haven of Northern Iraq. According to local security authorities, the Kurdish convert’s self-confessed ....
March 14 (CDN) — March 14 (Compass) -- As the U.S.-led war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein began, Iraq’s small Christian minority feared more than American bombs. They expected to become targets of a growing tide of Islamic militancy now being encouraged in ....
November 16 (CDN) — (Compass) - Shadowed by threats of a widening war against terrorism, Arab Christian booksellers report record sales of Bibles and Christian books at international book fairs held in Baghdad and Damascus during October. According to representatives ....
July 20 (CDN) — (Compass) - Amer put himself and his wife in God’s hands and left Iraq in June 2000 to seek religious asylum in Jordan. A few months before, Amer’s own relatives spread false accusations against them, linked deliberately to their rumored Christian ....
June 15 (CDN) — (Compass) - An Iraqi Christian who fled to Jordan last year has been trying since last November to file for political and religious asylum with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Amman. After escaping from Iraq, Yad Patrus ....
June 15 (CDN) — (Compass) - Baptized secretly in December of 1996, Yusuf Shams El-Dinn sensed last year that news of his Christian conversion was slowly leaking out in the local community. Despite Iraq’s secularized government, apostasy from Islam remains a ....
June 15 (CDN) — (Compass) - Although overwhelmingly Muslim, Iraq officially recognizes 14 local Christian communities. Since 1981, however, no new churches have been allowed to register. Iraq’s Christians represent less than three percent of the estimated 22 ....
