PM Barzani inaugurates 'Um al-Nour' church as symbol of coexistence

 

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday inaugurated a new church in Erbil's Christian-majority Ankawa district. A gift from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the church is part of Erbil’s broader effort to foster a culture of tolerance, religious freedom, and peaceful coexistence, Premier Barzani asserted.

The Kurdistan Region Prime Minister cut the ribbon for the Um al-Nour - "Mother of Light" - Church during an official ceremony attended by two topmost leaders of Levantine Christians: Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq and the World and Ignatius Aphrem II, the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, alongside a number of dignitaries.

Addressing the crowd at the church, Premier Barzani emphasized the spiritual significance of the name, stating, “The church's name, Um al-Nour, is a title of the Virgin Mary, peace be upon her, who holds a revered status in both the Christian and Islamic religions, in addition to being a common name in Kurdish society.”

He further confirmed that “this church is a gift from the Kurdistan Regional Government to the displaced and expelled [Christians]” from their historic heartland, the Nineveh Plains, “whose unstable security conditions have not allowed them to return to their regions.”

Cardinal Sako said he was “in awe of the magnitude of the venue,” which he noted reflects Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) President Masoud Barzani’s commendable “love and care for his people,” describing the Um al-Nour Church as living proof of the latter. He stressed that the church is not only a house of worship for Christians but for all, including Kurds, adding, “God is for everyone.”