At first sight, surveying the devastation left by Islamic State in the ancient Christian lands of the Nineveh Plain in Iraq, it appeared nothing had survived.
But in the rubble, outside St George's Church near Alqosh, half buried in the rubble, was a crucifix – a battered wooden cross bearing a figure of the crucified Christ.
Now the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, and the Chaldean Archbishop, Bashar Warda of Erbil, have come together in London to bless the crucifix .
The blessing was part of a programme now under way to persuade the many thousands of Christians who fled the terror in their homelands to consider returning.
The crucifix was discovered intact by Stephen Rasche, chief counsel and projects coordinator for Archbishop Warda.
It was found in Baqofah village, just outside Alqosh.
Warda was in the UK this week at the invitation of Aid to the Church in Need, the Catholic charity that facilitated the loan of the crucifix to a March 2017 exhibition of crosses displayed in Westminster Cathedral by curator Lucien de Guise.
Warda also had a private meeting with the Prince of Wales in London. Prince Charles has taken a close interest in the fate of persecuted Christians, especially in the Middle East.
ACN is among the sponsors of the Return to the Roots programme helping surviving Christians return to the Nineveh Plains.
Earlier this month, an olive tree-planting ceremony was held to mark the beginning of construction of 105 homes in Nineveh Christian-majority towns Karamlesh, Qaraqosh and Bartella.
A survey by Aid to the Church in Need showed that nearly 13,000 homes need to be rebuilt.
In meetings and interviews this week, AWarda said home repairs were a priority in the nine Christian towns and villages affected. This means there will be some delay in the refurbishment of the 300 churches and chapels damaged and destroyed during IS occupation of Nineveh.
Warda is a member of the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee overseeing the Return to the Roots scheme as well as a key project partner for Aid to the Church in Need's emergency work for the 100,000 displaced people in his Erbil archdiocese and elsewhere in Kurdish northern Iraq.
He told ACN: 'Thank you very much for the help you have given to us in Erbil for your brothers and sisters from Mosul and the Nineveh Plains. It is because of your help that we still have Christians in Iraq. It is because of your help that we still have Christian families able to live in decent houses, getting proper medical help and much-needed food packages.'
ACN, a Pontifical foundation and registered charity that operates under the direct authority of the Holy See, is providing food, shelter, medicine and schooling for Christian families and others being cared for in Archbishop Warda's diocese.
