Widespread Devastation and “Ghost Towns” During Visit to Northern Iraq
The Syriac Catholic Church (or Syrian Catholic Church) is also known as Syriac Catholic Patriarchate of Antioch or Aramean Catholic Church. The Eastern Catholic Christian Church has many practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. Being one of the twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches, the Syriac Catholic Church has full autonomy and is a self-governed Church while it is in full communion with the Holy See of Rome.
About 100,000 Christians — among them more than 60,000 Syriac Catholics — were expelled from the Ninevah Plain by the Islamic State group in the summer of 2014 as the militants campaigned to expand their reach into Iraq.
Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan also called for understanding from the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump about the plight and ordeal of all minorities, including Christians affected by violence in the region.