Najeeb Moussa Michaeel was born and raised in a Chaldean family in
Mosul. He graduated from the Higher Petroleum Institute in
Baghdad and became an engineer. He entered the
Dominican Order and made his novitiate in
Lille and
Strasbourg,
France. He vowed on December 4, 1981, and was ordained a priest on May 16, 1987, by Bishop
Pierre Claverie of
Oran,
Algeria. He obtained a degree in practical theology and communication, as well as a master's degree in
Catholic theology. On 1 January 1988, he became archivist in Convent of the Dominicans of
Mosul,
Iraq. On September 9, 1990, he became director of the digital centre of Mosul's Eastern manuscripts. On 10 March 2001, he joined the nineval bishops interrogation commission. Later, he studied pastoral theology and communication at
Babel College in
Baghdad. In 2007 he was refugee in
Qaraqosh, in the ninive plain, due to the persecution of Christians in Mosul. When the
Islamic State arrived in
Mosul on the night of August 6–7, 2014, Najeeb Moussa Michaeel fled to
Erbil,
Iraqi Kurdistan, taking about 800 manuscripts dating from the 13th to the 19th century, which he was transporting from
Qaraqosh to
Mosul. During his period of refuge, he digitized these manuscripts and helped Christian refugees in the Nineveh Plain. The saved documents were later exhibited at the National Archives and the
Arab World Institute in
Paris, as well as in
Italy. Among these manuscripts were texts of Christian and Muslim spirituality written in
Aramaic,
Syriac,
Arabic and
Armenian. In addition, since 1990, Najeeb Michaeel has contributed to the safeguarding of 8,000 more manuscripts and 35,000 documents from the
Church of the East. The
synod of
chaldean Catholic bishops elected Najeeb Moussa Michael
archbishop of
Mosul, at de facto post vacancy since the arrival of the
Islamic state in 2014.
Pope Francis confirmed this election on 22 December 2018. In September 2020 he has been nominated for the
Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, awarded annually by the
European Parliament. Moussa was endorsed by the parliamentary group
Identity and Democracy. ==Bibliography==