Clergy lead a rare Christian revival in Iraqi town welcoming pope

FILE PHOTO: Christians volunteers decorate streets with the pictures of Pope Francis, ahead of his planned visit to to Iraq, in Qaraqosh, Iraq February 22, 2021. Picture taken February 22, 2021. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani/File Photo

QARAQOSH, Iraq (Reuters) - As Islamic State fighters advanced across northern Iraq in 2014, Mazen Shemes' nine-year-old son was killed by a mortar. The family had to bury him quickly before fleeing the same night, along with thousands of other Christian families.

Five years later the 47-year-old farmer returned to the town of Qaraqosh, part of a wave of people who, supported by church leaders, re-populated its empty streets and rebuilt homes left in ruins by extremist militants and the fighting that ousted them.