Shafaq News – Nineveh

Iraq reopened the historic Mar Thoma (St. Thomas) Syriac Orthodox Church in Mosul, years after it was reduced to rubble by ISIS during the group’s 2014 takeover of the city.

Nineveh Governor Abdul Qader al-Dakhil led the reopening ceremony on Friday, joined by Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, along with clergy members and hundreds of Christians from across the province.

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities said the reconstruction was completed earlier this month in coordination with the Nineveh Antiquities Inspectorate and with funding from international donors, chiefly the ALIPH Foundation.

Often described as the “Mother of Syriac Churches” in Iraq, Mar Thoma is one of Mosul’s oldest and most renowned Christian landmarks.

According to church tradition, Saint Thomas the Apostle passed through Mosul on his journey to India and stayed at the site where the church now stands. Locals are believed to have embraced Christianity following his visit, and a church was later built in his name. The earliest historical record of it dates to the 8th century during the reign of Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi.

The church features rare carvings and inscriptions from the Atabeg era and suffered extensive damage under ISIS control, compounded by structural decay over the centuries.