Bush’s new exhibition features 66 paintings of wounded veterans whom the former president has come to know.

"This is now the third year of displacement for the Iraqi Christians. It's very tough. Donations are becoming less, while global attention is waning."

"Christians aren't going to come back to stay. The churches I saw were not destroyed with bombs, but by the everyday business operations of the community."

The Iraqi Catholic clergy do not want to see a safe corridor set up for Christians.

Speaking from Baghdad on Dec. 14, Kevin Hartigan, Catholic Relief Services' regional director for the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe told America that his team was bracing for what may be unprecedented numbers of people in flight from the contested city.

The struggle to liberate Mosul from ISIS militants has entered a third month of often savage combat.