The Islamic State (ISIS) may be wreaking havoc in Mosul but the terror is not keeping an Iraqi monk from protecting centuries-old writings that chronicle the country's rich Christian history.
Father Najeeb Michaeel is a Dominican monk born and raised in Iraq, who had a unique opportunity to study in the US. In 1990, he founded the Center for the Digitization of Oriental Manuscripts to foster the collection and recording of ancient manuscripts. He is now using this experience to convert over 1,300 manuscripts into digital format to ensure that future Christians will be able to connect with and understand the origins of their faith.
Father Michaeel rescued the manuscripts himself, risking his life and freedom to smuggle out the 14<sup>th and 19<sup>th century-old manuscripts from areas attacked by the ISIS militants to transfer them to a secret location in Erbil, where the documents and the priest are now hiding.
"The father or mother try to save the first thing — the children. So these books [are] my children," the monk said.
He is joined in his crusade by Benedictine Father Columba Stewart, the executive director of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, who is studying the way prayers shift across dialects using the Syriac manuscripts that they were able to rescue. Father Stewart, who is from Texas, brought new equipment to help with the preservation.
Fellow Dominican Father Laurent Lemoine is also among those who are helping Father Michaeel with his work.
"We're trying to save these cultural artifacts because in northern Iraq it seems that everything is on the road to destruction: people of course, but also our cultural heritage. The artifacts were almost destroyed several times. Across the region, Christianity is in the process of being swept away. Mass has been celebrated in Mosul for 1,600 years. This year was the first time that there hasn't been a Mass in all that time," Father Lemoine said in an earlier interview with France 24.
