Poor St Thomas is the only Apostle remembered not for his faith, but for his doubt. And yet, having placed his hands in Christ’s wounds, he took up Our Lord’s call to “make disciples of all nations” with particular zeal. According to tradition, Thomas carried the faith as far as India – a community still known today as Saint Thomas Christians. And many other Eastern Christians also trace their lineage back to “Doubting Thomas”, including the Chaldean Catholics of Iraq.
The Chaldeans aren’t strangers to persecution. In fact, the word “genocide” was coined in part to describe the Ottoman Empire’s butchering more than half of its Chaldean population during the First World War. Still, the community endured. Then came the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein, the country was engulfed by sectarian violence. ISIS quickly established a stronghold in Mosul, the nearest city to the Chaldeans’ heartland, the Nineveh Plains. It was open season on Iraqi Christians.
