“Could you hold this for a moment?” Fr Douglas Bazi thrust a plastic bag into my hand. We were at Westminster Cathedral at the Aid to the Church in Need Conference. Surreptitious inspection revealed some unimpressive, dirty, stained fabric. I know Fr Douglas from Ankawa and supporters of the Foundation will recognise his face. He is the Parish Priest of Mar Elias, guardian and ‘mother-in-law’ to the 10000 families who arrived in Erbil in Auguast 2014. He has a wicked chuckle

At the recent Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) conference in Westminster on the persecution of Christians across the world, there was an inevitable focus on Iraq and Syria where ISIS has forced the Christian populations to flee for their homes, because of what they believe. At the conference Fr. Douglas Bazi was asked: ‘What has caused ISIS?’ His answer was quite shocking: ‘We are all to blame for ISIS.’ His message gives impetus to our work at the Ankawa Foundation, and why w