Muslims and Christians cleaned the holy site (Picture: Facebook/This is Christian Iraq/Mohammed Al-Zakaria)

A church in a district once terrorised by so-called Islamic State has been restored with the help of Muslim neighbours.

Local residents were horrified after reports claimed Christians were still facing abuse.

TfL says no change is passenger numbers despite work from home push

Volunteers wanted to help rebuild the church to show that Iraq welcomes both Christians and Muslims.

They said they wanted to show that ‘Mosul is yours as it’s ours’ and ‘our differences are our strength’.


People help as part of the reconstruction effort (Picture: Facebook/This is Christian Iraq/Mohammed Al-Zakaria)

This 10th century monastery was abused under Isis (Picture: Facebook/This is Christian Iraq/Mohammed Al-Zakaria)

Iraq has one of the smallest, but oldest, Christian communities in the world but Isis oversaw the destruction of Iraqi churches, books and Christian spaces during their occupation of the city.

Mosul is set to be liberated completely by the end of next month, after two years of Islamist domination.



One of the areas occupied was al-Arabi in Mosul, where the Mar Georges monastery is located.

During the Isis occupation the Chaldean church, which is an Iraqi church in full communion with the Pope in Rome, was shot at by terrorists.

The altar in the attached church (Picture: Facebook/This is Christian Iraq/Mohammed Al-Zakaria)

It was left in a ruined state after Kurdish and allied forces pushed Isis out of the district.

Family release video of crash that killed great-grandad in hunt for hit-and-run driver

But the rebuilding effort this week was sparked when Muslims in the community were accused of harassing a Christian family, something which the volunteers said was a false rumour.

They decided to take matters into their own hands to improve community relations.

Photos shared on This Is Christian Iraq show how Muslim neighbours rushed to the church to clean the space and repair the holy rooms.

The group of inter-faith volunteers wanted to send a message to show they were united.

Isis has not yet been totally pushed out of the city (Picture: Facebook/This is Christian Iraq/Mohammed Al-Zakaria)

Volunteers pose for pictures during the cleaning effort (Picture: Facebook/This is Christian Iraq/Mohammed Al-Zakaria)

Candles were lit as people worked (Picture: Facebook/This is Christian Iraq/Mohammed Al-Zakaria)

MORE: Some young Hong Kong residents want to be part of Britain again

MORE: Tens of thousands turn out for Great Manchester Run amid tight security