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\u201cWe had six hours to get all of our sisters out,\u201d recalled Sister Houda of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena. \u201cWe received a call, and we were told we had to clear out,\u201d she recalled in the now peaceful offices of the community\u2019s primary school in Qaraqosh.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the bells of the churches ringing, warning people to evacuate, she recalled a panicked scene, with residents pouring into the roads with nothing more than the keys to the homes and perhaps a jacket or a coat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By dawn the next day, the town stood still, empty of its inhabitants, and then the wanton destruction of Qaraqosh commenced, beginning with its beautiful churches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur pride and joy, the Church of the Immaculate Conception,\u201d Archbishop Nazar Semaan of Kurdistan, a son of Qaraqosh, recalled, \u201cwas used for target practice. ISIS scorched the interior and tried to bring the dome down \u2014 but it would not.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ordained a priest and consecrated to the episcopacy in the lovely sanctuary, the archbishop spoke about the hardship of those days, how his brothers and sisters lived a hand-to-mouth existence, not knowing if or when they would return.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since ISIS was cleared out of the area and the villages and fields de-mined, some of the families returned, but many remained in Kurdistan or their places of refuge in Jordan or Lebanon, where they await on visas to the west. <\/p>\n\n\n\n ISIS as a military force may be gone from the region, but the mentality of extremism remains for some, was the comment heard by the CNEWA delegation, led by Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari, throughout its pastoral visit to Iraq, which concluded on the evening of Thanksgiving. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Other challenges remain, ranging from security to economic stability, but the loving attachment of Iraq\u2019s Christian families to their homeland, to their towns and villages such as Qaraqosh, remains strong. The memories of weddings and funerals, christenings and family feasts, family and friends together, not scattered to the four winds, keeps the community together, in spirit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As the emigres plant new roots elsewhere, however, keeping those memories alive among their children and their grandchildren becomes increasingly difficult \u2014 a fact not forgotten or dismissed by the leaders of the Iraqi churches, Catholic and non-Catholic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/260600479_10158087651167687_3847462321916039309_n-1024x841.jpg\")
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