La Croix International
Monday
Savior of rare Christian manuscripts installed Mossul archbishop
Dominican friar in Iraq risked life to keep ancient documents out of extremists’ hands
An Iraq priest credited with stopping the Islamic State (IS) from destroying precious Christian manuscripts and documents has been ordained as the new Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mossul.
Najib Mikhael Moussa, 63, was installed in Jan. 25 at St. Paul Church in the war-ravaged city that is still reeling from a nine-month battle to retake it from the extremist group, also known as Daesh, which officially ended in July 2017, Agence France-Presse reports.
During the siege, over 54,000 houses were reportedly destroyed in and around the city, leading to a wealth of reconstruction projects.
Many are benefiting from a US$400-million fund that was set up in 2015 to help reconstruct Iraq a year after Daesh tore through the country like wildfire, laying ruin to Christian churches and other religious artifacts.
“Our message to the whole world, and to Mosul’s people, is one of coexistence, love, and peace among all of Mosul’s different communities and the end of the ideology that Daesh (IS) brought here,” Mikhael, who began his religious service at the age of 24, was quoted as saying.
The Dominican friar was responsible for preserving nearly 850 ancient manuscripts in Aramaic, Arabic and other languages and about 50,000 books while serving at Al-Saa Church (Our Lady of the Hour) in Mosul, Iraq.
But due to the rapid advance of the IS, he was forced to make two emergency maneuvers to ensure they survived.
In 2007, Mikhael relocated them all to Qaraqosh, formerly Iraq’s biggest Christian city; then in 2014 when the Jihadists rushed toward Qaraqosh, he bundled as many of the rarest manuscripts as he could into his car and raced east to the country’s autonomous Kurdish region.
Together with some other friars, he also moved the Oriental Manuscript Digitization Center to a safer location and digitally copied thousands of damaged Syrian, Armenian and other manuscripts.
On Jan. 25, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church, appealed for more support for Iraq’s Christians from bishops globally and other international groups.
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