Catholic University in Erbil empowers survivors of ISIS

By Joseph Tulloch

In 2014, so-called Islamic State swept across northern Iraq, capturing vast swathes of territory.

The invasion led to mass displacement, particularly of minority groups such as Christians, Yazidis, Turkmen and Shabak.

Many of these refugees fled to the Kurdish region of northeast Iraq, where – says Fr Karam Shahmasha, a priest of the local Chaldean Catholic Archdiocese – the local Church sought to provide them with housing, food, and medical care.

The founding of the university

In time, Fr Shahmasha tells Vatican News, these charitable initiatives gave rise to an even bigger project: the founding of the Catholic University in Erbil, or CUE, which aimed to be a “beacon of light in the midst of chaos”.

The goal was to welcome students of all backgrounds, particularly to those who had suffered the most from recent violence.

In a talk at Boston College in 2023, Archbishop Bashar Warda, CUE’s Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, stressed that "We opened the doors of CUE to those most affected by ISIS: the forcibly displaced, the Christians, and the Yazidis … We are committed to being a strong voice for the hurt.”

Archbishop Bashar Warda speaks at CUE

Celebrating Yazidi culture

Fr Shahmasha emphasises the support that CUE offers to students from the Yazidi community, which suffered a brutal genocide at the hands of ISIS, surpassing even the ruthless treatment meted out to the region’s Christians.

Thanks to a number of generous benefactors, both Catholic and non-Catholic, CUE is able to hand out numerous scholarships every year for Yazidi students, Fr Shahmasha says. It also regularly organises events celebrating Yazidi culture, such as the annual celebration of the Yazidi New Year, and collaborates with organisations fighting for Yazidi rights.  

Additionally, with the help of the Pontificial foundation Aid to the Church in Need, CUE is able to award a large number of 'Pope Francis Scholarships' every year, intended mainly for Christian students. 

Students at the Catholic University

The CUE today

Today, nine years after its establishment, the university boasts more than 600 students, from a wide range of backgrounds.

Fr Shahmasha highlights the university’s newest initiative, an Oriental Studies programme hosted by the university’s College of Arts.

The programme is the first of its kind in the region, Fr Shahmasha stresses, offering courses on the “range of religions and ethnicities that have long inhabited the Mesopotamian area”, with topics as varied as Kurdistani Studies, Catholic Theology, and the Books of the Torah.  

The aim, he says, is to “promote peaceful coexistence” among Iraq’s various ethnic and religious groups, contributing to “the building of a vibrant community”.