ACN Supporting the Catholic University of Erbil
It has been nearly one year since Pone Francis visited Iraq. To mark this historic visit, ACN established a special scholarship fund with the Catholic University of Erbil to help educate young Christians in Iraq and provide them with the necessary skills to find employment and allow them to stay in Iraq.
By ACN Staff
Students in a laboratory of the CUE. (Credit: CUE Erbil)
In March 2021, Pope Francis made a historic trip to Iraq. This visit gave a much-needed morale boost to the Middle Eastern country’s persecuted Christian minority. The trip also brought attention to the plight of persecuted Christians in Iraq and the entire Middle East. ACN has worked for decades in Iraq, and in 2021, ACN Ireland highlighted our work in Iraq during our Lenten Campaign.
One of the most significant issues facing Iraq’s Christians is the economy and unemployment. Many fear that without prospects in the country, young Christians will leave to find work elsewhere and will never return. The Catholic University in Erbil (CUE) was established in 2015 to help provide young Christians with the skills they need to find secure employment and stay in Iraq.
ACN committed to helping the university and the students by providing the “Pope Francis Scholarships”. The scholarship fund is over $1.7 million and will help support 150 students in their studies over four years. The fund is supporting 128 students in the 2022/2023 academic year. ACN is also helping to provide accommodation in Erbil for 14 students from the Nineveh Plain, the Christian heartland in Iraq.
Archbishop Bashar Warda, founder of the CUE. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)
The CUE currently has 280 students enrolled in various subjects, from architecture to English. There are now plans to establish other departments such as pharmacy. The major difference between the CUE and other universities in Iraq is the CUE’s Christian ethos and instruction in Catholic Social Teaching. The CUE is currently ranked 41 out of 250 higher-level educational institutions in Iraq. It is hoped that the university might break into the top 10 in the coming years.
Archbishop Bashar Warda of the Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Erbil founded the CUE. The archbishop offered his thanks to ACN and our benefactors for the support provided to the university and the young Christians of northern Iraq:
“I thank all the very hardworking ACN offices worldwide and all of their donors in supporting the young Christians of Iraq, to have not only a right, but the actual opportunity to obtain a higher education. It gives them and their families hope for the future. I thank all at the CUE for such an achievement during the pandemic.”
Please join us in prayer that the CUE successfully forms young Christians who will be able to stay in their ancestral homeland and secure a future for Christianity in Iraq. Please consider donating if you would like to support ACN’s work and projects like the Catholic University of Erbil.