Displaced Iraqi Christians await return to Mosul

Two years ago, when fighters from the self-described Islamic State began their assault on Karemlash, a town 18 miles southeast of Mosul, Martin Banni, a Chaldean Catholic priest, grabbed communion elements, the church’s official documents, and a few personal items and fled.

More than 100,000 Christians from the area had already left. The archbishop of Mosul begged Christians to flee.

“We were few in number with no weapons, and we could do nothing to face the Islamic State,” Banni said. “We ran.”