大象传媒

The rapid advance of Islamic State across Iraq and Syria over the last year has helped to change the face of the region.

When IS captured the Iraqi city of Mosul last June the exodus of civilians included many from its minority communities - some can trace their roots back a thousand years in the culturally rich and diverse Nineveh plains.

Among those who fled were Mosul's Christians - 100,000 of whom are now living in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, has just returned from Erbil, and said the fabric of Iraqi society depended on the presence of Christians.

He supported the Pope's position that peaceful co-existence in the region could only be achieved through the removal of IS from power - even if that meant the use of force.

鈥淭here is no way Islamic state is going to walk away without being forced to do so,鈥� said Cardinal Nichols.