Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Mosul (Agenzia Fides) – Since Saturday 28th June we have no news regarding Sisters Atur and Miskinta, two Chaldean religious women of the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, who had returned to Mosul by car from the city of Dohuk in the company of two girls and one Christian boy. The five members are unreachable on their cell phone. According to sources of the Chaldean Patriarchate, the two nuns and the other three members were stopped by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that confirm that they are in good condition.
The ecclesiastical authorities are in permanent contact with the religious leaders of the Sunni community in Mosul to keep the situation under control.
The two nuns look after and manage a foster home for orphans in Mosul, near the Chaldean archbishopric. Before the Islamist offensive which began on June 9, the nuns and all the guests had left the family home and found refuge in the city of Mosul, Dohuk, in Iraqi Kurdistan. "In all these terrible years for our Country" refers to Fides Sister Luigina Sako, Superior of the Chaldean Sisters, "Sisters Atur and Miskinta have done a great job, without ever abandoning Mosul and allowing the girls to study. We are extremely worried for them, especially for girls".
Local sources contacted by Fides confirm that the situation remains critical, especially in Mosul, which is mainly controlled by Sunni insurgents led by the militiamen of the ISIL who have installed their own base even in the seat of the Chaldean archbishopric. The villages in the Nineveh Plain, such as Qaraqosh and Kramles, register the return of a part of the population that fled in recent days. However, there is no water and electricity and no services managed by public entities, such as transport and waste collection. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 30/06/2014)
