The Islamic State not only targeted Christians but also Christian cultural heritage. For his efforts in saving thousands of historical documents from the Islamic State, Msgr. Najeeb Michaeel has been nominated for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

By ACN Staff

Update 23 October 2020: Msgr. Najeed Michaeel unfortunately did not win the Sakharov Prize.

“The Christian community here in Iraq is not a new community. It's very old, since 2000 years ago.”

Msgr. Najeeb Michaeel, Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul and Akra

Christianity in Iraq has a very long history. The largest Christian Church in Iraq is the Chaldean Catholic Church, which traces Her origins back to St. Thomas the Apostle. The Chaldean Church is an Eastern Catholic Church and uses the East Syriac Rite. The traditional liturgical language used by the Chaldeans is Aramaic, the same language spoken by Jesus.

Today the Chaldeans are mostly found in the north of Iraq, particularly in the Nineveh Valley. Christians in Iraq have faced persecution ever since the seventh century, but there has been an increase in attacks and discrimination in recent decades. Many Chaldeans have been forced to flee Iraq because of the threats against their lives from Islamist extremists. The most popular destination they go to is western countries such as Sweden and the United States. Despite all this suffering, both Chaldeans in Iraq and abroad have kept their trust in God and continue to keep close ties with the wider Catholic Church.

The already difficult situation for Chaldeans in Iraq became even worse in 2014, when much of their homeland was invaded and occupied by the Islamic State. Thousands of Christians were forced to flee from the Islamist extremists. Thankfully, thousands of Chaldeans and other Iraqi Christians found safety in Iraqi Kurdistan. Thanks to efforts of the local Kurds and organisations such as Aid to the Church in Need, many Iraqi Christians were able to stay in Iraq and return to their homes when the Islamic State was defeated.

The Islamic State did not want to just rid the lands they captured of Christians; they also wanted to get rid of all traces of Christian culture and heritage. Churches were vandalised and Christian manuscripts and artifacts were destroyed. It was under this context that Msgr Najeeb Michaeel O.P. stepped in.

Msgr Najeed Michaeel, a Chaldean Dominican friar, has a long career in caring for Iraq’s historical Christian manuscripts. In 1990 he helped in safeguarding 8,000 manuscripts and 35,000 other historical documents from the Eastern Church.

Again in 2014 Msgr Najeed Michaeel stepped in. Here is what happen in his own words: “Just before ISIS came and occupied our land, our monastery, I felt something will happen very dangerous against us. That's why I decided to put all these collections in the big truck and take them out of the Nineveh Valley and Mosul and put them here in Erbil, Kurdistan. It's very important to us to save our heritage and keep it safe for future generations. The Christian community here in Iraq is not a new community. It's very old, almost 2000 years old. We have many grammars and many dictionaries dating from the 12th to 13th century, in Aramaic especially, the language of Jesus Christ. It's our mother tongue. And we are proud to keep them. And keep also many Muslim collections from Quran, from Hadis, from Alfiya Ibn Malik. And, some Yazidi manuscripts.”

In 2018 Msgr. Najeed Michaeel was appointed as the the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul and Akra. He has also been nominated for the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought for his efforts in saving so many historical manuscripts. The Head of Projects for Aid to the Church in Need, Regina Lynch, has expressed her pleasure at Msgr. Najeed Michaeel being nominated for the award: “We are very pleased that Archbishop Najeeb Michaeel has been nominated for this important award. It is a great opportunity to honour and recognize the courageous work of someone, who has been an unwavering defender of our Christian heritage in this ancient land. The award underlines the efforts of this pastor, who in the face of barbarism, saved the historical manuscripts that are so important in helping the Iraqi Christians communities keep their culture and heritage alive despite all obstacles”. 

The importance of Msgr. Najeed Michaeel’s work cannot be underestimated. By targeting Christian culture and heritage, the Islamic State (like other iconoclasts before them) were attempting to destroy Christianity in its entirety. By saving so many historical documents, Archbishop Najeed Michaeel has helped save Iraq’s Christian heritage and in doing so helped in retaining the unique cultural identity of Christians in Iraq.