Syriac Catholic Patriarch Younan ordains new bishop for Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq ꟷ On Friday, in the presence of Syriac Catholic Patriarch Mor Ignatius Youssef III Younan, the ceremony took place in which Younan Mubarak Hanno was ordained as archbishop of Mosul in the Church of the Immaculate in the Syriac city of Baghdede (Qaraqosh), Iraq.

The Patriarch spoke in his speech about the dedication and spiritual service of the bishops who temporarily shepherd the diocese. After that, the new Archbishop Younan Hanno honored his predecessors Boutros Mushe, who managed the affairs of the diocese for a few years and bishop Youssef Abba, who managed the affairs of the diocese from 2021 to the present.

A congratulatory message was read from the Hungarian State Secretary for the Aid of Persecuted Christians, Tristan Azbej, who is responsible for his government’s monetary assistance program for Christians in the Middle East. After the ceremony, the new bishop accepted congratulations from the attendees.

The number of returned Syriac Catholics to the city of Mosul after the terror of Islamic State is very small. Many have been displaced and fled to Erbil, other parts of Iraq or migrated to the West.