On Saturday, dozens of faithful attended Mass at a Mosul church in northern Iraq for the first time since it was rebuilt after being ransacked by Daesh militants.

In 2014, Daesh rushed into Mosul and declared it their “capital,” causing hundreds of thousands of Christians in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province to flee, some to Iraq’s neighboring Kurdistan region.

After months of tough street combat that ravaged the city, the Iraqi army forced the jihadists out three years later.

The jihadists used the Mar Tuma Syriac Catholic church, which dates back to the nineteenth century, as a prison or a court.

The restoration work is still proceeding, and the marble floor has been disassembled so that it may be totally rebuilt.

During a ceremony attended by scores of people in September 2021, a new bell was inaugurated at the church.

Before the Mass began, the 285-kg bell cast in Lebanon rang out, eliciting joyous applause.

The event began with worshipers filling the church singing songs while an organist performed.

“This is the most magnificent church in Iraq,” said Father Pios Affas, the parish priest, who is 82 years old.

Affas also praised those responsible for the restoration effort, which he said had “restored the church to its former splendor, as it was 160 years ago.”

Inside, ochre and grey marble gleamed in the nave, where the altar and colonnaded arches had been restored and new stained glass installed.

All Christian icons, including the holy cross, had been destroyed by jihadists, and parts of the church had been damaged by fire and shelling.

Artisans labored tirelessly to “clean the burnt marble” and rebuild it, according to Fraternity in Iraq, a French NGO that assists religious minorities and helped fund the restoration work.

Outbuildings and rooms on the first level, where windows have been broken and Daesh graffiti is visible, have yet to be rebuilt.

Mosul and the neighboring Nineveh plains formerly had one of the region’s oldest Christian populations.

Iraq’s Christian population has dwindled to fewer than 400,000 people, down from roughly 1.5 million before the 2003 US-led invasion that deposed tyrant Saddam Hussein.

Nineveh province was left in ruins following three years of terrorist occupation, which was removed in 2017 by Iraqi forces backed by US-led coalition airstrikes. Several monasteries and churches are being restored, but progress is slow, and the Christian community that fled has not returned.

Meanwhile, two missiles aimed at a facility in western Iraq hosting US-led coalition soldiers crashed near the complex on Saturday, causing no injuries or damage, according to security sources.

“Two rockets fell outside the Iraqi base of Ain Al-Asad,” a security forces statement said, adding there were no “losses.”

The Iraqi-controlled base is located in the desert of western Anbar province and houses coalition troops fighting the Daesh group.

According to a coalition official, “no impact on the installation was detected,” and “no coalition personnel injuries were reported.”

A previously unknown group calling itself “International Resistance” claimed responsibility for the attack on a pro-Iran Telegram channel.

The Ain Al-Asad base is routinely targeted by rockets and drones.

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