IRAQ: Mega-marathon in Nineveh Plains raises nearly €450,000

ALQOSH, Iraq — On Wednesday evening, a mega-marathon organized by Muskathlon, a non-profit associated with 4th Musketeer that organizes fundraising extreme marathons around the world, and partner organization OpenDoors began in the Nineveh Plains town of Alqosh. The opening of the event saw 40 Dutch people, alongside local participants run and cycle through the town’s streets. The mega-marathon has raised nearly €450,000 to support the Christian presence in Iraq.

Father Salar Budag welcomed the participants and conveyed a speech by Bishop Mar Paul Thabet, the deputy Bishop of the Diocese of Alqosh, in which he explained how this event is a realistic embodiment of the solidarity of Christians around the world. The mega-marathon fundraising for the Christian peoples of Iraq is “a very beautiful activity because it paints for us what it means to be Christian … All are united in Christ, who is the head of the Church, which is His holy body”.

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