[wanabidii] Fw: Islamists Destroy 7th Century Church, Mosque in Tikrit, Iraq

Islamists Destroy 7th Century Church, Mosque in Tikrit, Iraq. See the blocked image.

On Sunday, September 28, 2014 11:03 PM, "ANS@Assist-Ministries.com" <ANS@Assist-Ministries.com> wrote:

Islamists Destroy 7th Century Church, Mosque in Tikrit, Iraq

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com Sunday, September 28, 2014 Islamists Destroy 7th Century Church, Mosque in Tikrit, Iraq By Jeremy Reynalds Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service TIKRIT, IRAQ (ANS) -- According to a report by BBC Arabic, Islamists in Tikrit have destroyed The Assyrian Green Church, built in 700 A.D., and Forty Shrine, the oldest Islamic religious shrine in Iraq. The Assyrian Green Church in Tikrit, Iraq, built in the 7th century, which was destroyed by Islamic State (IS) also known as ISIS The Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) said that Islamists, most probably ISIS, planted explosives around the Assyrian Green Church, which is located inside the presidential palaces compound in the center of the city, and detonated them. The explosion completely destroyed the ancient church, which belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East. Similarly, Islamists planted explosives around the Forty Shrine mosque and surrounding tombs, located in the center of the city in Salahuddin Province, and detonated them, completely destroying the mosque. It is believed the Forty Shrine housed the remains of 40 of Muhammad's comrades, who took part in the Islamic conquest of the region during the reign of the second Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab in 638 A.D. AINA said ISIS has destroyed churches, religious shrines and mosques in the provinces of Kirkuk and Nineveh, including the tombs of the prophets Jonah, George, Daniel as well as a number of ancient churches in the provinces of Salahuddin and Nineveh. In Mosul ISIS has destroyed or occupied all 45 Christian religious institutions. The Green Church The Assyrian Green Church in Tikrit, Iraq. The Green Church was considered the most famous church of Tikrit and the most beautiful. It was built by the Metropolitan of Tikrit, His Holinesss Dinkha II, and was called the church of Saint Ahoadamah in remembrance of the Patriarch who was killed by the Persian King Khosrow I. AINA said buried in the Church were the founder Mar Dinkha II, and his successors Daniel, Thomas, Basilious III, and John II. In 1089 the church was ordered destroyed by the Muslim governor and it was looted and damaged, but was later restored and returned to Assyrians. In 1258 Assyrians took refuge in the church during the Mongol invasion of Tikrit. They were killed in the Church and only a few escaped to tell their story, that Timurlane built two minarets and three domes from the heads of the dead Christians. AINA said the Church was restored on the order s of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the nineties and during the restoration several coffins were found of Christian clerics. One of these coffins contained rusty ferrous material, a silver scepter and seals decorated in the shape of a cross, with Assyrian inscriptions saying "I am Anaseous, Bishop of Tikrit." Tikrit is an ancient Assyrian city, dating back to the Assyrian Empire (1000 B.C.). It remained predominantly Assyrian and Christian in the early centuries of Islamic rule, but restrictions by Muslims forced some Assyrians to migrate northward. The city remained predominantly Assyrian until it was sacked and nearly destroyed by Timurlane. For information about the Assyrian International News Agency visit www.aina.org     See all ASSIST News articles at www.assistnews.net Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "A Sheltered Life." Additional details on "A Sheltered Life" are available at http://www.ashelteredlife.net. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. ** You may republish this story with proper attribution. Send this story to a friend. Note to our subscribers: It you really appreciate what we do through ANS and would like to make a donation to help us continue with this unique news service, you can do so in two ways. First, just go to our secure site at www.assistnews.net/assist/donations.htm, where you can sign up for a monthly gift or a one-off contribution (tax-deductible in the US). Second, if you prefer to send a check, just make it out to ASSIST, and mail it to ASSIST, PO Box, 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609, USA (also tax-deductible in the US). Thank you so much for caring! Dan Wooding ASSIST News Service is Sponsored By