French charity replaces Virgin Mother statues destroyed by ISIS in Iraq



A Catholic charity in France has sent 15 Virgin Mary statues to Iraq to replace those destroyed by ISIS during the group’s three-plus-year targeting of those it deemed to not follow its brand of religion.

The Catholic organization in France L'Œuvre d'Orient or “The Work of the Orient” sent the statues to Erbil in the Kurdistan Region earlier this week to replace those destroyed by ISIS.

The Virgin Mother statues, which measure 1.5 meters tall, firstly were sent to Ankawa, the Christian area of Erbil. They are pearl white with the praying mother wearing a sky blue sash with golden-painted rosary beads draped on her right arm.

Father Rodolphe Vigneron is blessing the statues this weekend, then they will be sent to Chaldean, Syriac and Assyrian churches in the Nineveh Plains towns of Qaraqosh, Karamless and Barella, according to L'Œuvre d'Orient.

These and other Christian-populated ares were destroyed by ISIS during the group’s destructive reign that began in the summer of 2014 and has largely been halted in the province because of the efforts of Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, backed by the international coalition of which France is a key partner.


Especially in the Catholic faiths, Mary is a canonized saint for being the mother of Jesus. Catholic churches often have elaborate shrines and sepulchres revering her.

Œuvre d’Orient was founded in 1856 by laymen and professors and is devoted to helping Christians of the East.

Prior to the rise of ISIS in 2014, there were about 400,000 Christians in Iraq of various Chaldean, Assyrian, Syriacs and Armenian sects. Now local advocacy groups say there are about 200,000 Christians are sheltered in the Kurdistan Region with about that many having sought refuge abroad.

As of last December, Iraqi officials said more than 100 churches and monasteries in Mosul alone have been demolished by ISIS.

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