Iraqi authorities have almost finished the rehabilitation of the Lady of Salvation Church in Baghdad whose bombing, blamed on al-Qaeda operatives, killed 58 people and inflicted heavy damage on the building.
The 2010 attack on the church was described as a massacre as gunmen held worshippers hostage and then detonated their bombs in the midst of the congregation.
Minister of Housing and Reconstruction Mohammed al-Daraji says the government has spent nearly $2 million to repair the church which was almost destroyed in the attack.
The government says the attackers have been brought to justice and now face death sentence.
The state construction company al-Faw has been entrusted with the rebuilding, the minister says.
The church’s altar, destroyed in the attack, has been brought back to its former state, he added.
Al-Faw, the minister said, has been relying on prototypes of other churches in Baghdad in its reconstruction efforts and its engineers have been in touch with the Vatican for advice.
The church belongs to a small Iraqi Christian denomination known as Syriac Catholics.
The minister said the company has asked a group of Iraqi artists to install a sculpture in the Church’s courtyard in commemoration of the victims.
The names of the 55 people who were killed in the attack will be inscribed on the sculpture, the minister said.