The Brave Bishop of Mosul and Kirkuk
By Dr. Adhid Miri
Mor Nicodemus Daoud Matti Sharaf met with Pope Francis in Iraq.
His Excellency Mor Nicodemus Daoud Matti Sharaf was born in Mosul, Iraq in 1976. A graduate of Mosul Clergy Monastery with a Bachelor of Theology, he was ordained a monk by His Holiness Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas in 2000. Later, His Holiness appointed him as a Lecturer at St. Ephraim Theological College in Saidnaya, Damascus.
In 2001, His Holiness ordained Mor Nicodemus as a full priest/Rabban and sent him to serve for three months in Sweden. Afterward, His Holiness sent him to Athens University in Greece to study the language.
In 2005, His Holiness the Patriarch awarded Rabban Daoud the Holy Cross for his meritorious and dedicated service in the Archdiocese of Mosul. He served at Mor Malki Church in Australia for over three years.
His Eminence Mor Gregorios Saliba Shamoun, Bishop of Mosul and Environs, had written to the Patriarch asking His Holiness to ordain Rabban Daoud Sharaf as his assistant. His Holiness summoned Rabban Daoud for this purpose, who left his service at Mor Malki to answer the call. On March 23 of 2010, an apostolic decree was issued whereby Rabban Daoud was officially appointed an assistant to Archbishop Saliba Shamoun, serving the Archdiocese spiritually and managerially.
On November 27, 2011, His Holiness the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Moran Mor Ignatius Zakka I, as assisted by Metropolitans, consecrated Rev. Fr. Daoud Matti Sharaf as Archbishop of Mosul and Environs, by name “Mor Nicodemus,” at a solemn ceremony held at the St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral, Mor Aphrem Monastery, Maarat Saidnaya, Damascus, Syria.
Fall of Mosul
In early June 2014, the Islamic State extremist group was closing in on Mosul. Iraqi Christians and other minorities were fearful of the outcome. But many, like the archbishop, were determined to hold fast.
The archbishop recalls the feelings of terror that forced Iraqi Christians to flee for their lives. For four days, Archbishop Nicodemus heard bombs going off outside his home in Mosul. Shuttered inside, he knew little about what was going on as the Iraqi army and Islamic State (IS) battled for control of the city he loved.
Before the IS captured Mosul, Al Qaeda had a strong presence in the city, making everyday life difficult for both Christians and Muslims. Al Qaeda would force Muslims to pay a heavy tax, collecting millions, and they would kidnap Christians for a hefty ransom.
The Great Escape
On the afternoon of June 9, 2014, the Archbishop received a call from his friend, the Interior Minister of Kurdistan, telling him he should leave Mosul. How could he leave, he wondered? His car would be a target. He couldn’t walk on the streets for fear of being shot.
Not knowing what to do, the archbishop called an acquaintance in the Iraqi Army who also advised him to leave as soon as possible. He told him he would send an army escort for him. Three minutes later, the escort arrived, Archbishop Nicodemus Daoud Matti Sharaf was told he had five minutes to pack up his belongings and be escorted out of Mosul.
In those last few days before the fall of Mosul, the Archbishop didn’t believe a time would come that he would have to leave his beloved archdiocese. He worried about his parishioners, and he prayed for peace.
He was forced to leave behind hundreds of other valuable religious manuscripts dating back to the second and third century of Christianity. As the entourage left, the archbishop called his priests and parishioners on his two mobile phones, frantically advising them to get out.
All around him, thousands of others were also fleeing with little more than the clothes on their back. It is an image that still haunts him today, lines of exiles walking out of their homeland in shock and fear.
“I left the archdiocese house with very little, just my clothes. I forgot to take my laptop. I took just my passport and seven manuscripts that are very old.”
A few weeks later, some of those same exiles returned to Mosul, hoping to pick up the pieces of their lives, the archbishop says. The Islamic State however had different plans, telling them they must convert to Islam, pay a heavy tax, or die.
At least half of the country’s Christian population has fled for safer regions such as Kurdistan or even other countries. “For 10 or 11 years, we lived in Mosul without government,” he said. “There is no real government in Iraq.
“We are a few of the last people who speak Jesus’ language. We are Aramaic people of Mesopotamia, and we don’t have these rights or governments to protect us? Look upon us as frogs, we’ll accept that — just protect us so we can stay in our land.”
In total, the archbishop estimates there are about 140,000 Christian Iraqi refugees in Kurdistan, most of them from Mosul. Prior to 2003, estimates suggest, there were 130,000 Iraqi Christians in Mosul alone. Just before the Islamic State took over Mosul, they were down to about 10,000, according to Associated Press.
In exile, accommodations and food supplies are sparse. Many families share caravans or shipping containers as shelter, while the luckier ones occupy a simple home.
At first, the Church was able to provide shelter and food, but costs have overwhelmed their efforts and international relief is needed, he said. Additionally, other exiles, the Yazidis, a religious Kurdish group also targeted by Islamic State, are displaced and struggling to survive.
Along with thousands of other Iraqi Christians, the Bishop is now living in exile in Ankawa, a small town located in Erbil, a city in the autonomous region of Kurdistan, 90 kilometers east of Mosul.
Fears of Displaced Christians
According to estimates, after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, out of the original population of 1.4 million, only 300,000 Christians remained in the country, mostly in the northern towns. Hundreds of thousands have left since ISIS took over the territory in 2014. They are spread across refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. Some have made their way to Europe.
There has been a significant influx of Shiite Muslims to the region, which is having a big impact. This has to do with the role Shiite troops and militias played in the liberation of Christian towns; their excuse is to return the control to the Iraqi government. This battle against ISIS, however, was a patriotic duty - it didn’t mean these fighters become occupiers and replace the old enemy, taking over their territory. According to the bishop, Christians are afraid and lack confidence about the future in part because of this evident greed.
The Islamic parties continue the pressure to bring about a population change in the Christian regions and towns of the Nineveh plain region. The lack of legal recourse and protection of the rights of Christians mean many of our people will want to leave the country. The bishop believes Iraq will ultimately lose all its Christians, and with it, the commitment to brotherhood and peaceful coexistence—the ancient and authentic legacy of our faith.
“The Shiite Shabaks in the area are turning on the Christians, saying we are their enemy. They are putting pressure on us to leave our region and towns. That would be a humanitarian disaster.
“In Bartella, the Shabak Shiites are completing a residential project of 25 acres; who will live there? It clearly means that there is a plan to bring in people from outside the region. Isn’t that a threat to the security of the region and to the Christian communities? We are very pessimistic about this project, and we call on all concerned parties to intervene, because it threatens to change the demographics of the region.”
The archbishop talked in Brussels at the parliament, telling them, “You should wake up, because you accept people and think they’re refugees, but they are not all refugees, and most have been radicalized. Those people are the same ones who came to our land many years ago and we accepted them with open arms. We opened our doors and hearts for them, and they pushed us to be a minority in our ancestral land, then refugees in our land!”
Hopes, revival and returns
The current situation of the Christian community on the Nineveh Plains and in Mosul shows that few Christians have returned to the region in the wake of the ouster of ISIS. According to sources, the number of families that have returned to Mosul is no more than 60. Some families have returned because their children had to go back to school or university; some heads of households are state employees and were forced go back to keep their jobs. This does not mean that these families are living in a safe and stable situation.
Things are a bit better on the Nineveh Plain compared to the situation in Mosul. Some 5,200 families have returned to Qaraqosh; 1,169 to Bartella; 350 to Karamles; 456 to Bashiqa and Bahzani; an estimated 973 families have returned to Teleskuf. All these figures are estimates because the situation in the area remains confusing and is evolving.
According to assessments, more than 12,000 homes need rebuilding – those burned, destroyed, or partially damaged by ISIS – and the estimated cost of this revival will be more than $290 million. There are no guarantees for these families regarding security or their future. Help from national and international authorities is needed so that the criminal activities that targeted Christians before 2014 and the invasion of ISIS will not resume.
Strong words for the West
The brave Metropolitan Nicodemus Daoud Matti Sharaf, the Orthodox Syriac Archbishop of Mosul, whose flock are among the last people who speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus, does not mince his words. He openly criticizes the West for placing animal rights ahead of the well-being and survival of Christians, saying, “The West cares more about frogs than us.
“The USA, the UK and those who helped America are responsible for destroying our life. If they believe in human rights, then they should rebuild our country. In Western countries, there are animal rights, there are no human rights in this part of the world.
“The leaders of these two countries destroyed our country. They wanted to destroy one person, Saddam Hussein, instead they destroyed the whole country, they destroyed Iraq. They want to destroy Bashar Al Assad, and they destroyed Syria. They wanted to change Gadhafi and they destroyed Libya. Is this policy clever or crazy?”
Nicodemus implores the West to wake up to the threat of Islamism, and he faults past U.S. leaders and their allies for ruining Iraq. He liked President Trump, saying: “Let’s try the crazy one because we tried the normal one, and he destroyed our lives.”
The Orthodox bishop was banned from visiting Britain in 2016, despite being formally invited to meet Prince Charles, because of his views on Islam. In contrast, he greatly values the example set by Hungary and its leaders for the support that they have shown Iraqi Christians.
Metropolitan Nicodemus reflects on being denied a visa to Britain. “Someone from the television channel RT called me from England and asked why I couldn’t get a visa. I told him: ‘Because I’m not with ISIS.’ The British government gives visas to those who support ISIS. I don’t.
“I have had permanent residence in Australia and visas for all the world, except England. In America, where I stayed for 5 years, Russia, India, all these places, yet they don’t accept us and have refused three archbishops claiming that they would ask to be refugees in England!”
In addressing the European Commissioners in November 2016, the bishop was equally blunt and asked the representatives, “Why this new genocide against the Christians and minorities in Iraq and Syria in the 21st century? Is that because I am a minority? Is our life so cheap? Are we worthless and dispensable? Daesh robed us of everything, they took our history, our manuscripts, our pride, our churches that belong to the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C.”
The brave Bishop had harsh questions for President Macron of France during his visit to Mosul on August 29, 2021. “We know that the superpowers have satellites in the skies watching our regions. May I ask you where were you looking when 200 vehicles, same color and model, lined up and entered Mosul during daylight to terrorize and expel us from our ancestral cities, towns, and villages? Is it possible that you could not see that? How come they were able to stop the ISIS assault on the gates of Kurdistan and not on Mosul?
“Who founded Daesh? Who financed its operations and purchased its oil? Why should we become part of disputes and pay for a conflict between the Shia and Sunnis? What is the final purpose of all of this? Uproot Christianity? We are the roots of Christianity in the Middle East.
“We are the indigenous people of Mesopotamia and today we are refugees and displaced in our own ancestral land. I was born here and so was my father, grandfather, and generational family. Why should we accept that? We want to live in peace in our homes and in the East. We ask for international protection and to help us stay in our country and Nineveh Plain region. You can take and keep your exported democracy, we want peace.”
Solutions
First, we need a strong central government with the rule of law in Iraq. Since 2003, we had to live without law. No country in the world can live without stability, peace, and rule of law.
Second, we need a political decision and guarantees from the UN to designate the Nineveh Plain villages as a safe zone, protected by international power.
“We can’t go back to build our houses, our churches, and villages without real security, or just by verbal guarantees,” says the bishop. “The guarantees cannot come only from Iraqi and the KRG (Kurdistan) governments but from the international community and the UN. Without help from all these countries, we cannot do anything. We don’t trust the government in Baghdad. We hope for an internationally protected Christian autonomous region, what happened to the Christian community in northern Iraq under ISIS amounted to genocide.
“It would be stupid to go back with this situation because when ISIS came to Mosul, they were just 300 persons, and at that time there were 65,000 Iraq soldiers. So how can we trust this army again? Ironically, our villages were protected by Peshmerga, and they left us stranded! We feel alone with no one to protect our people. How can we go back to that situation?
“When I met the American consul, I told him we need international guarantees, protection, anyone to protect us. If not, we get another ISIS after a few months, and we will get another one under a new name. He said it’s difficult to put soldiers there. I told him we don’t need soldiers; we need the same air plan that stopped ISIS coming to Erbil at midnight in 2014.
“If we don’t get these guarantees, it would be stupid to go back into this situation because everyone who is pushing us to leave these villages is still there. The Arab villagers who wanted to take our land, our homes, our villages, and those who support ISIS are still there. The aggressor is still among us, it’s still the same thing additionally, there’s weak government in Baghdad, the parties who control this country are the same, nothing is new.”
The archbishop was asked, if he cannot go back, or obtain guarantees from the USA, the UK, Europe, would he ask to prioritize Christians for emigration? The bishop’s emphatic answer was, “To leave this country is not a solution. The solution is to help us stay in our land. It’s not just the land we leave; it’s our historical holy land for us. We will live or die in our land.”
The Archbishop’s Message
The archbishop has messages to his people and to the West. The first message is addressed to Christians, “Tell the world that Christians are a model of peaceful coexistence, love, and peace. Join hands with our Christian people in Iraq. Please listen to us and urge your governments to provide support for us to keep our hope alive and give us the confidence that we will be able to live safely in this country.”
To Western governments, he pleads, “Help us for the sake of humanity, not for material gain. Do all that is in your power to help us and to encourage us to remain in our country.
“Safety and security, of course, are ongoing concerns and something we cannot provide. That will require cooperation among local and national Iraqi officials – and interested third parties. To the extent that there is peace in the area, it is up to those governments and third parties (other nations that have interests in Iraq and that are possessed of moral consciences) to devise ways to protect the newly returned citizens: Catholic, Orthodox, Yazidi, and Muslim.
“What we need to establish in Nineveh is a beachhead of sorts – a proving ground for the reestablishment of multi-religious communities where amity among different faiths previously did exist. Muslims, who formerly lived in relative amity with their Christian neighbors, cannot help but be grateful for the efforts of Christians to rebuild Nineveh, because they too will be beneficiaries of renewed economic activity and, above all, peace. If it can succeed there, it may succeed elsewhere. It may be now or never.”
Special editing by Jacqueline Raxter