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MOSUL-KIDNAP (THIRD UPDATE) Mar-4-2008 (870 words) With photos posted Feb. 29 and March 3. xxxi
Pope appeals for peace in Iraq after kidnapping of Mosul archbishop
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI appealed for peace and security in Iraq after kidnappers abducted Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul, Iraq, and killed the three people who were traveling with him.
"May those who hold in their hands the fate of the Iraqi people increase their efforts so that through the commitment and wisdom of everyone, (Iraqis) may regain peace and security and not be denied the future that is rightfully theirs," the pope said to people gathered for his noonday Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square March 2.
Archbishop Rahho was kidnapped late Feb. 29 after he finished leading the Way of the Cross, Chaldean Bishop Rabban al Qas of Arbil told the Rome-based missionary news service AsiaNews.
The Mosul archbishop had just left the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul and was in his car with his driver and two bodyguards when the kidnappers attacked.
"The bishop is in the hands of terrorists," Bishop Qas told AsiaNews Feb 29.
"But we don't know what physical condition (the archbishop is in); the three men who were with him in the car, including his driver, were killed," he explained.
"It's a terrible time for our church; pray for us," he said.
The kidnappers have communicated their demands, which reportedly include a $1 million ransom, according to Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic charity helping persecuted Christians.
Chaldean Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Andreos Abouna of Baghdad told the charity March 3 that while the kidnappers' aim was obviously to procure money "they clearly also wanted to scare the Christians in Mosul and all over the country and let them know they are not safe."
He recalled the kidnapping of Syrian-rite Archbishop Basile Casmoussa of Mosul, who was abducted briefly in 2005, but said Archbishop Rahho's disappearance was causing greater concern.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said "attacking Christians means attacking the Iraqi people," AsiaNews reported March 4.
In a written message, he assured Chaldean church leaders that Iraqi government forces had been mobilized "to work without rest to guarantee, as soon as possible, the return of the archbishop of Mosul."
Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk, Iraq, told Vatican Radio March 2 that violence against Christians "destroys the trust and brotherhood" between Iraqis.
But he said numerous Muslim leaders have made appeals and are working for the archbishop's release. Shiite and Sunni leaders have condemned the kidnapping as "against every principle of Islam," AsiaNews reported.
Archbishop Sako said, "The people in Mosul live in fear."
He said the archbishop was abducted by "a criminal group; it is not a group that claims an ideology."
Archbishop Sako said the pope's appeal resonates throughout all of Iraq "because when he speaks it is balanced," which is noticed and appreciated by Muslims leaders there.
After praying the Angelus March 2, the pope said he was adding his voice to the appeal of the Chaldean patriarch, Cardinal Emmanuel-Karim Delly of Baghdad, to quickly release the 65-year-old archbishop who is in a "precarious condition of health" and reportedly must take medications daily.
The pope said his prayers were with the "three young men who were with him at the moment of the kidnapping and were killed."
A Vatican statement released Feb. 29 said the archbishop's abduction and the killing of his aides was a "despicable act."
"The Holy Father asks the universal church to join in his fervent prayer that reason and humanity will prevail in the perpetrators of the attack," it said.
The Vatican said the fact that the archbishop was abducted immediately after leading a Way of the Cross service indicated that the attack was premeditated.
The incident came less than a year after a Chaldean Catholic priest and three companions were gunned down outside the same Mosul church.
In Michigan, Chaldean Bishop Ibrahim N. Ibrahim of the Southfield-based Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle said March 3 that Archbishop Rahho has been "a good example of fraternity, charity and love."
"He is well-known to the Christians and the Muslims of the area, and a lot of Muslims are asking for his release. In fact, it is leaders of the Muslim community who are handling the negotiations for his release," said the bishop, who had been in contact with Chaldean church officials by telephone at least twice a day since the kidnapping.
"He has lived all his life in Mosul. He was born there, ordained for that diocese, and then was made its archbishop," said Bishop Ibrahim, who heads Chaldean Catholics of the eastern half of the United States. Most of his flock live in southeast Michigan, where there are six Chaldean parishes.
More than 100,000 Chaldean Catholics used to be in the Mosul area, though that number might be considerably smaller now, because so many people have been fleeing to safer parts of the country or fleeing Iraq altogether, the bishop said.
Few Christians live in the city of Mosul "because they are very fanatical Muslims there," Bishop Ibrahim said.
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Contributing to this story were John Thavis in Rome and Robert Delaney in Detroit.
END
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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