The next few months will determine whether Iraqi Christians can return to their homes in areas where Islamic State had been routed, according to Mgr John Kozar, international president of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA).
Mgr Kozar, who was in Iraq from March 31-April 5, cited several daunting challenges for Iraqi Christians who return to their country: infrastructure woes, burned and bombed out buildings, desecrated churches and security issues.
"Three liberated villages outside of Dahuk (in northern Iraq) are being resettled as we speak," Mgr Kozar told Catholic News Service in an April 7 telephone interview from CNEWA headquarters in New York.
