ICC Note: The reality confronting Iraq’s Christians is heartbreaking as centuries of Christianity is being destroyed in Iraq. ISIS has driven out over 100,000 Christians over the past ten months, and there are very few remaining in the lands that they have occupied for nearly 2,000 years.
03/22/2015 Iraq (60 Minutes) There are few places on earth where Christianity is as old as it is in Iraq. Christians there trace their history to the first century apostles. But today, their existence has been threatened by the terrorist group that calls itself Islamic State. More than 125,000 Christians — men, women and children — have been forced from their homes over the last 10 months.
The Islamic State — or ISIS — stormed into Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, last summer and took control. From there, it pushed into the neighboring villages and towns across this region, known as the Nineveh Plains, a vast area that’s been home to Christians since the first century after Christ. Much of what took almost 2,000 years to build has been lost in a matter of months.
On the side of a mountain, overlooking the Nineveh Plains of ancient Mesopotamia, is the Monastery of St. Matthew. It’s one of the oldest on earth.
The voices of its monks have echoed here since the fourth century, uttering prayers that have not changed.
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