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December 18, 2024By OSV NewsLONDON (OSV News) -- King Charles III attended a special Advent service Dec. 17 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mayfair, London. The event, co-hosted by Pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), celebrated the resilience of Christian communities and marked the 10th anniversary of the Islamic State group invasion of Mosul and the Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq.
During the service, the king met with representatives of the London-based Iraqi Christian diaspora, including those who had endured persecution and displacement when the militants took control of the Nineveh Plains.
He also interacted with members of the 175-year-old Jesuit parish, which runs outreach initiatives for the homeless, and with ACN representatives.
Caroline Hull, national director of ACN U.K., praised King Charles' "profound and unstinting compassion" for the Iraqi Christians as, since his time as the Prince of Wales, he went "out of his way to hear the personal stories of the afflicted faithful," she said.
"The king’s constant concern has been a huge source of encouragement for us at ACN," Hull stressed.
ACN has supported rebuilding efforts in Christian towns like Qaraqosh, helping thousands of families return home. The charity also helped establish the Catholic University in Erbil, in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, where many Christian families found refuge after the Islamic State invasion.
"The journey towards restoration and renewal has been a long and sometimes painful one -- and there is still a long way to go towards full recovery," Hull said.
"But that they have achieved so much and completed the work so quickly is a tribute to the compassion, the care and concern their friends and benefactors have shown them. Such help came at a time when they sorely needed it," ACN's director stressed.