Thanks to the help from Western countries, there are still Christians in Iraq,” Father Jens Petzold told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Father Petzold is originally from Berlin, but since 2012, he has been in charge of the Chaldean Catholic monastery “Deir Maryam El-Adhra” (Monastery of the Virgin Mary) in Sulaymaniah, which is located in the Kurdish region of Iraq, known as Kurdistan.

“Iraq appears to be returning to a certain degree of normality. However, much still needs to be done to ensure that Christians can return to their villages on the Nineveh Plains. It will still take some time before the last house in these destroyed villages will have been rebuilt,” the 58-year-old priest said.

Father Jens Petzold has changed his name to Abuna [Father] Yohanna. He is a member of the ecumenical community al-Khalil, which is committed to the promotion of a dialogue between Islam and Christianity as its mission.

Among the problems that Christians are facing, Father Petzhold mentioned the “pervasive” corruption, catastrophic economic conditions, and the lack of faith in the authorities, the future and those Muslims who welcomed ISIS with open arms when the terrorist organization expanded its rule over more and more territory. He pointed out that one should not forget that many Muslims also suffered suppression by ISIS. “Half of the Muslim population fled Mosul,” he said, when ISIS captured the city in northern Iraq in June 2014.

Father Petzold told ACN that his monastic community was planning to dedicate itself once more to its original mission: the promotion of Christian-Islamic dialogue featuring both a spiritual and intellectual exchange.

“We do not claim to be able to change the reality of the Middle East, but we are taking initial steps within the realms of what is possible for our monastery. We are focusing on young adults need education and job training. We want to expand their horizons”, he added. 

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