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Reuters

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul on Friday in the northern Iraqi city and killed his driver and two companions, police said.
"He was kidnapped in the al-Nour district in eastern Mosul when he left a church. Gunmen opened fire on the car, killed the other three and kidnapped the archbishop," said provincial police spokesman Brigadier-General Khaled Abdul Sattar.
An assistant to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad and spiritual leader of Iraq's Catholics, said they had heard that three people had been killed and they did not know the fate of the archbishop, Paulos Faraj Rahho.
A number of Christian clergy have been kidnapped or killed, and churches bombed in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Last June gunmen murdered Catholic priest Ragheed Aziz Kani and three assistants in Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad, after stopping his car near a church in the eastern part of the city.
The assailants dragged out the priest and his assistants and shot them dead in an attack that was condemned by Pope Benedict.
A former Archbishop of Mosul, Basile Georges Casmoussa, was kidnapped at gunpoint in 2005, but was released after one day of captivity and said no ransom was paid.
Chaldeans belong to a branch of the Roman Catholic Church that practices an ancient Eastern rite. Most of its members are in Iraq and Syria, and they form the biggest Christian community in Iraq.
Christians make up about 3 percent of Iraq's 27 million, mostly Muslim, population. According to a 1987 census there were 1.4 million Christians in Iraq, but the number now is thought to have fallen below one million.
While violence across much of Iraq has fallen in recent months, U.S. and Iraqi officials say that Mosul is the last urban stronghold of al Qaeda, which they identify as the biggest threat to the country's security.
(Writing by Michael Holden, editing by Tim Pearce)

This is so tragic. May Christ have mercy on the Cardinal and deliver him safely from his captors.

I have been advised by the Chaldean Diocese that Cardinal Delly was not kidnapped. Rather it was his assistant, Bishop +Paulos Faraj Rahho. Sorry for the incorrect information. This is, however, a reason for most serious prayer for His Excellency and the entire Chaldean Church.
Silouan, Monk

Find the story HERE [news.yahoo.com] .

Archbishop Rahho, Chaldean Catholic, was kidnapped and they are not sure of his fate. Three people with him were murdered during the kidnapping.

I saw that name on the BBC as well, and was a bit confused.

[Linked Image]

Iraqi Chaldean archbishop seized

Gunmen have kidnapped the archbishop of the Chaldean Catholic Church in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and killed three of his aides, his church says.

Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho was seized as he left a church in the eastern al-Nour district, it added.

Most of Iraq's estimated 700,000 Christians are Chaldeans - Catholics who are autonomous from Rome but recognise the Pope's authority.

Many have been targeted since the 2004 invasion by Sunni extremists groups.

In January, bombs exploded outside three Chaldean and Assyrian churches in Mosul. Several Christian priests have also been kidnapped or killed during the past five years.

Demands

Archbishop Rahho had just left the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul, where he had been leading afternoon prayers, when his car was ambushed by armed men, a church spokesman said.

The gunmen opened fire on the car, killing his two companions and driver, before kidnapping the archbishop, he added.

Bishop Rabban al-Qas of the nearby city of Irbil said his 65-year-old colleague, who was ordained archbishop of Mosul in 2001, was "in the hands of terrorists".

"But we don't know what physical condition [he is in]," he told the Rome-based Catholic news service, AsiaNews.

"It's a terrible time for our church - pray for us," he added.

The kidnappers have reportedly communicated their demands, but these have not been made public.

The incident comes less than year after a Chaldean priest and three sub-deacons were gunned down the same church in Mosul after celebrating Sunday Mass.

A former archbishop of Mosul, Basile Georges Casmoussa, was kidnapped at gunpoint in 2005, but was released after one day reportedly without a ransom having been paid.

Christians targeted

There are an estimated 50,000 Christians in the traditionally ethnically and religiously mixed city of Mosul, Iraq's third-largest and a centre of the oil industry.

But a rise in attacks on Christians by Sunni extremist groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003 has prompted many to leave.

Last June, Pope Benedict XVI told US President George W Bush he was deeply concerned about the plight of Iraq's Christians as a result of the ongoing insurgency.

"Particularly in Iraq, Christian families and communities are feeling increasing pressure from insecurity, aggression and a sense of abandonment," the Pope said.

Originally made up of members of the Nestorian Church, the traditional liturgical language of the Chaldean church is Syriac - a descendent of Aramaic, which is thought to have been spoken by Jesus and his disciples.

The church's community in Iraq is said to be 550,000-strong and its best-known member is Saddam Hussein's former deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz.

The Chaldean Patriarch, Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, is based in Baghdad.

God deliver him from the hands of his enemies.
May God arise and let his enemies be scattered.
Stephanos I

Lord have mercy! Prayers to the Chalden Church and all Christians in danger.

Prayers for Mar Paulos and those who were killed

Update on this:

03/01/2008 12:23
IRAQ

Three Christians killed in kidnapping of Mosul bishop buried in Karamles

The funerals were held this morning for the driver and two bodyguards. The same city also holds the tomb of Fr Ragheed, killed last year in the area where Archbishop Rahho was kidnapped yesterday. Sources in Iraq speak of "signs that leave hope that he may be alive". The appeal of the pope and the apprehension of the faithful and the patriarchate: the bishop is sick and needs his medicines.

Mosul (AsiaNews [asianews.it]) - The funerals were held this morning in Karamles, a Christian village near Mosul, for the three persons killed yesterday in the ambush of Chaldean archbishop Faraj Rahho, now in the hands of his kidnappers. The victims were Faris Gorgis Khoder, his driver, and Ramy and Samir, two of his bodyguards. All three were the fathers of families, each with three children. Meanwhile, there is no official news on the condition of the 67-year-old bishop, who at the moment of his kidnapping had just finished celebrating the Way of the Cross at the parish of the Holy Spirit. AsiaNews sources in Iraq speak of "signs that leave hope that archbishop Rahho may still be alive, and that his kidnappers want to negotiate". The faithful of his diocese express great concern over their pastor: "The bishop must take medicines every day; we trust in the humanity of these people". Today as well, the website of the Chaldean patriarchate expresses concern over the bishop's health.

An appeal "that reason and humanity may prevail in the authors of the kidnapping, and that Archbishop Rahho may be restored as soon as possible to the care of his flock" was launched yesterday evening by the pope. Benedict XVI says that he is "embittered by this execrable new act, which profoundly affects the whole Church in the country, and in particular the Chaldean Church". He also expresses his "closeness" to the patriarch, Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly (editor's note: currently in Amman) and to "that entire, sorely tried Christian community, and also to the family members of the victims". The pope, finally, invited the universal Church "to unite with its fervent prayer the intention that the Iraqi people may find the path of reconciliation and peace".

The leaders of the Church in Iraq have been mobilised in the effort to liberate Archbishop Rahho, as have representatives of the Muslim community. The appeal from some Iraqi imams should come between today and tomorrow.

The archbishop of Mosul had in the past denounced the persecution of Christians taking place in the city, and had already received several threats. On June 3, 2007, in the area of the same church where his kidnapping took place yesterday, Fr Ragheed Gani and three subdeacons were shot to death. "In Mosul", recount the inhabitants, "we are all frightened, Christians and Muslims, we are afraid, but we are praying for the bishop".

I think enough is enough. This terrorism on the Church gone on too long. I think all Christians needs to unite and petitition to the President to put an end to this, and guarantee protection for the Church in Iraq. May God protect them.

It is with regret that I am breaking my fast to bring this news. CNN and BBC just reported that the archbishop has been just found dead.

BBC News Story [news.bbc.co.uk]

May his memory be eternal!

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Memory eternal.

May his killers be brought to justice .

May the Lord comfort and sustain the Archbishop's flock as they grieve and mourn

Memory eternal.

Mar Paulos, pray for us!

Vichnaja jemu pamjat'!

Ung