Catholic facility in northern Iraq damaged by apparent Iranian drone strike
In times of war, it is always the marginalized who suffer the most, said a Catholic bishop in northern Iraq.
Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda of the Archdiocese of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan issued a statement following a drone strike on a Catholic facility in the Christian part of Erbil.
At about 8 p.m. on March 4, the Blessed Michael McGivney Apartment complex in Ankawa, Erbil, was struck by an apparent drone attack. The complex is owned by the Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil and houses diocesan workers and young Christian families affected by the years of violence in the country.
Fortunately, the building had been largely evacuated several days earlier due to its proximity to the Erbil International Airport, which itself had suffered from a drone strike on Sunday, the second day of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The airport houses a U.S. military base.
The nearby convent of the Chaldean Daughters of Mary Immaculate also suffered damage from Wednesday’s attack. No casualties are believed to have occurred at either location.
Archbishop Warda stated that these attacks serve as a reminder that in times of war and violence, it is the marginalized who suffer the most. The McGivney House, as it is known locally, was funded by donations from the Knights of Columbus as a refuge for displaced Christian families during the time of the ISIS war, 2014-2018.
“The archbishop urges the world to remember and pray for the many marginalized people in Iraq, including the small and still threatened Christian minority, struggling to remain in their native land,” according to the statement.
“We are now in a time once again where we pray for the solidarity and support from our brothers and sisters around the world, that these times of violence and war will come to an end, and that our suffering people may yet have a chance to return to lives of peace and dignity,” Archbishop Warda said.
In a separate statement, Fr. Karam Shamasha, provost of the Catholic University in Erbil, said, “With deep sorrow, we report that the McGivney Charity Complex of the Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil was damaged this evening after a rocket and a drone struck Ankawa, a historic Christian town in Kurdistan Region — northern Iraq. The Chaldean Sisters’ Convent in Ankawa was also damaged.”
Fr. Shamasha said that no injuries were reported.
“We pray for peace,” he concluded.
In a statement March 2, Regina Lynch, Executive President of ACN International , said, “The Christian presence in the Middle East must not die out. A new spiral of violence could push already fragile communities beyond the point of survival.”
In addition to funding major parts of the construction of the Catholic University in Erbil, ACN furnished the lecture halls and medical laboratories and supplied computers for the library. It helped cover the running costs while the university was becoming established and continues to provide scholarships for students.
