IRAQ:
The desecrated grave of Fr Ganni

“How can I close the house of God?”

When Daesh seized the town of Karamlesh on the Nineveh Plains they not only desecrated the church but also defiled the grave of martyr priest Ragheed Ganni.

Fr Ganni was killed in 2007 when leaving his church in Mosul after Sunday Mass.

One of the armed men who stopped him screamed: “I told you to close the church. Why didn’t you do it? Why are you still here?”

Fr Ganni replied: “How can I close the house of God?”

His attackers shot him dead along with the three sub-deacons with him.

Their deaths show that the problems for Iraq’s Christians did not begin in summer 2014 – and it is unlikely that they will end after Daesh is finally driven out.

Please pray that these ancient Christian communities will finally be able to live in peace in Iraq.