Kidnapping of Chaldean archbishop

The Christians in Iraq are leaving by the thousands. Priests have been beheaded, blown up, and are regularly "asked" to leave. I pray that he be released unharmed after they get either the money or attention they are after.

VATICAN CITY, 1 MAR 2008 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office released the following communique late yesterday afternoon:

"The Holy Father Benedict XVI was immediately informed of the kidnapping of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mossul of the Chaldeans, Iraq, which took place yesterday afternoon during an attack in which the prelate's two bodyguards and his driver were killed. Archbishop Rahho had just completed the Way of the Cross, a religious rite which the faithful in Iraq hold very dear. This suggests that the criminal action was premeditated.

"Saddened by this latest deplorable act, which is a powerful blow to the whole Church in the country and especially the Chaldean Church, the Pope feels close to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, and to the entire sorely-tired Christian community, as well as to the relatives of the victims. The Supreme Pontiff invites the Universal Church to join his fervent prayer that reason and humanity may prevail in the perpetrators of the kidnapping and that Archbishop Rahho may be returned as soon as possible to his flock. He also renews his hope that the Iraqi people rediscover the path to reconciliation and peace".

For his part Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, who is currently visiting Amman, Jordan, has made an urgent appeal for the immediate release of the Iraqi prelate.

During a Eucharistic celebration held on 29 February in the Church of St. Mary of Nazareth in the Latin Vicariate of the Jordanian capital, the cardinal expressed his own closeness to and solidarity with the Catholic community in Iraq.