Shrewsbury, Massachusetts -- Raban Maroutha A. Hanna vividly remembers as a teen visiting the museum in his birth city of Mosul in northern Iraq and seeing the beautiful statues and other historical artifacts that date back thousands of years. "I was so impressed by everything ... Those old things, you want to look at them close. I don't ever remember if I ever saw everything despite the fact I went a couple of times," he said. "To look at things somebody made 3,000 years ago, it's just special." Rev. Hanna, 41, who was ordained as a monk while living in Iraq in 1996, is the priest at St. Mary's Syriac (Assyrian) Orthodox Church at Route 9 east and Industrial Drive. Rev. Hanna has lived in this country for 10 years. He last visited the Mosul Museum, the second largest museum in Iraq, when he was 18. Recently, he spoke about the contentedness he felt growing up in Mosul, one of the areas in Iraq considered the cradle of civilization. And how ISIS, the armed Islamic extremist group, has waged a cultural and religious cleansing crusade, in which they are kidnapping and killing Christians, and destroying irreplaceable, centuries-old Bibles, books, art and other relics that predate the birth of Jesus Christ and Christianity. "They are erasing history. Christianity is a part of history that everybody should be proud of. Or, if not proud of, at least everybody should know and realize it and put it under study," Rev. Hanna said, before offering an analogy of the value of the items. "A letter from George Washington that's written in his hand would be sold for millions of dollars and it's only a couple hundred years old. Now, you're talking about ... all of those handwritten manuscripts are hundreds of years old and many of them are over 1,300 years old," he said. The zealots justify their destruction by saying they have to destroy the artifacts because people are worshipping them as if they are gods. Tahir Ali, a spokesman for the Islamic Center of Worcester, said that is only an excuse for the radicals to do what they want to do. He said ISIS is giving the majority of Muslims who are peaceful a bad reputation. "What's happening has nothing to do with Islam," said Mr. Ali, an engineer who lives in Westboro. "When you go to a museum, you see historical artifacts that remind us of where we came from ... how humanity evolved. There is so much history behind those artifacts, historical monuments, if somebody destroys them, that is such an unforgivable act." Rhys F. Townsend, an archeologist and professor of art history at Clark University, said he was particularly disheartened when he heard about ISIS bulldozing the Nimrud archaeological site. "These particular pieces that are being destroyed predate Christianity by a long stretch. This is irreparable damage to the history of the Middle East," he said. "If you were to go into the Museum of American Art and destroy paintings and sculptures and artifacts, it would be tantamount to doing that. If one went down to Sturbridge Village and destroyed that, think how people would react," Mr. Townsend said. Rev. Hanna said growing up in Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, was nice. Most of his childhood friends were Muslims. Christians were highly educated and very successful, he said, but they were always treated as second-class citizens by many Muslims, he said. Life was turned upside down in June 2014 when ISIS took over the city of more than 1 million people. The terror group declared Mosul an Islamic state and the Christians were given two ultimatums: They could either leave or stay and pay a protection tax, called Jezia, or be killed, Rev. Hanna said. He said an estimated 100,000 Christians left their homes and businesses in Mosul and moved north toward Christian villages that were controlled by the Kurds. Kurds are also Muslims, but they are an enemy of ISIS. During battles with the ISIS forces, the Kurds, who are being defended by Americans, pulled back, causing Christians to move to other villages. Rev. Hanna said his two brothers and two sisters who fled their homes in Mosul are now in Dohuk, a Kurdistan city that has a large population of Assyrians, sometimes called Syriac Christians. "They have no hope. They have almost nothing. It's just sad, sad," Rev. Hanna said before a long pause. "Thank God it is safe where they are." Rev. Hanna said the problem stems from fanatical Muslims who want to live the way Muhammed, the founder and chief prophet of Islam, lived 1,400 years ago. Muhammed is also said to have been the first to verbally receive the words of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, from God. Muhammed, Rev. Hanna said, was a warrior who went into many wars. When he and his followers raided villages, they killed the men and took the women as well as all the money and valuables. Muhammed, as written in the Quran, also had many wives and mistresses. Muslims also don't like Christians because they think Christians believe in three gods because of the belief in the Trinity, "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit," he said. Rev. Hanna said he does not usually discuss what's happening to Christians in Syria and Iraq during his sermons. Church, he pointed out, is for faith and spirituality. "Of course, from time to time, we have to mention what's happening to comfort people. Many of them still have relatives in Iraq and Syria," he said. "As a Christian, Jesus did not promise us peace in this life. He said you're going to be persecuted for my name. But, whoever keeps his faith and trust in him would be given eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven." The original St. Mary's Syriac Assyrian Orthodox Church was built on Hawley Street in Worcester in 1924 by about 30 Assyrian families who came to this country from southern Turkey. In the 1960s and 1970s, more people started coming from Turkey, as well as from Syria and Lebanon. In the past five to seven years, Assyrians from Iraq have found their way to Central Massachusetts, Rev. Hanna said. St. Mary's moved to its new home last year. The church will host the 52nd Syriac Orthodox Convention of North America July 23-26. The problems between Muslims and Christians are not new. They are more extensive now because of more advanced weaponry, and people around the world are more aware of what's happening now because of the media, including social media, Rev. Hanna said. Asked if he thinks the problems between Muslims and Christians will ever end, Rev. Hanna said: "When (Islamist extremist) reinterpret their holy book in favor of making peace and acceptance of others. "The things that cause all these troubles are envy in the world and selfishness. As long as there is selfishness and envy in the world, there's going to be problems as far as what's happening in Iraq and Syria."