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If Wisdom is proved in her children, by whom is ignorance and violence proved?
Stephanos

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By the children of wrath, of course!

Fr. Serge

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Yes, Michael, the cleric is not in Syrian Orthodox robes. The article mentions various Christian groups in Iraq, both orthodox and Catholic.

IRAQ: KIDNAPPERS BEHEAD PRIEST IN MOSUL

Father Boulos Iskander

October 12 (Compass Direct News) � Iraqi kidnappers who abducted a Syrian
Orthodox priest three days ago left his beheaded corpse in an outlying
suburb of the northern city of Mosul last night. Father Boulos Iskander,
59, was snatched off a Mosul street on Monday afternoon (October 9) while
searching for car parts at local mechanic shops. The Muslim kidnappers
telephoned the priest�s oldest son soon afterwards, demanding $350,000
ransom from the family. After negotiations in several more calls, the
kidnappers gradually reduced their demands to $40,000 but added another
stipulation: that the priest�s church must publicly repudiate Pope Benedict
XVI�s remarks about Islam in his lecture in Germany last month. The family
managed to raise and pay the ransom, and the St. Ephram parish of the
Syrian Orthodox Church placed 30 large signboards on walls around the city,
distancing itself from the pontiff�s comments. But then the telephone calls
stopped. Fr. Iskander�s dismembered body was discovered last night (October
11) at about 7 p.m. in the remote Tahrir City district, two kilometers (1.2
miles) from the center of Mosul. His arms and legs had been severed and
arranged around his head, which rested on his chest. His remains were
brought to a local hospital, which then notified his church. News of the
priest�s murder reached Damascus as Patriarch Zakka Iwaz was meeting with
bishops of the Holy Synod of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch. The
Bishop of Mosul Saliba Chamoun returned immediately from Damascus to Mosul
in time to conduct the funeral service this afternoon. He announced during
the service that he had been commissioned by Patriarch Iwaz to bestow on
the martyred priest an honorary title of �archimandrite,� a cleric just
below the rank of bishop. A Syrian Orthodox clergyman present at Fr.
Iskander�s funeral service today told Compass that at least 500 members of
the Mosul Christian community attended, many of them weeping
profusely. �Many more wanted to come to the funeral,� he said, �but they
were afraid. We are in very bad circumstances now.� Fr. Iskander is
survived by his wife, Azhar, sons Fadi and Yohanna, a married daughter,
Fadiyeh, and a daughter, Mariam, 13. �It is a very sad and difficult day
for us,� Bishop Chamoun told Compass. �Father Boutros was very active. And
he loved very much his mission in the church.� Yesterday Iraqi church
sources also reported that a Christian layman from Baghdad, Dr. Joseph
Fridon Petros, 55, was ambushed and killed while traveling home from Diala
to the capital. Ramadan Atrocities The deadly targeting of Iraqi�s
Christians has shot up since the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim month of
fasting now into its third week. According to the Catholic Asia News
agency, Islamist militants distributed flyers across Mosul after Pope
Benedict�s controversial lecture in Germany, demanding that the local
Catholic clergy condemn the Pope�s remarks about Islam. If they did not do
so, the threats said, �Christians will be killed and churches burned down.�
Underlining the warning against Mosul�s Christian community, armed
militants surrounded the local Chaldean Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit
on September 24. The attackers fired at least 80 bullets at the church,
damaging the eastern side of the building and shattering some windows.
Although the attack came shortly after 11 a.m. on a Sunday morning, no
services were in progress at the time and no injuries reported. In Baghdad
that same Sunday, two bombs that exploded near the Assyrian Orthodox Church
of the Virgin Mary in Baghdad�s central Al-Kerada district killed four
civilians, including the church guard, and wounded 14 others. The initial
explosion, set under the parish priest Ezaria Warda�s car, was timed to go
off as worshippers left Sunday mass, with a second car exploding a few
minutes later. Another armed attack was mounted in Mosul on October 2
against the convent of the Iraqi Dominican Sisters. No one was injured in
the hail of bullets, although the convent�s garden was set afire. After two
days, unknown militants returned to fire shots at Mosul�s Church of the
Holy Spirit on October 4, and again on October 5, injuring one of the
guards who required hospitalization. According to sources inside Iraq, some
of the Christian clergy have stopped wearing their clerical robes in public
to avoid inciting attacks. Iraq�s young Christian women have also become
open targets for insurgents plying the kidnapping industry over the past
two weeks. �In one case in Baghdad, the victim committed suicide after the
ransom was paid and she went home, because of the torture and sexual
violence she suffered,� Asia News reported yesterday. Another girl who was
subjected to gang rape took her own life while still in her captors� hands.

http://www.compassdirect.org/

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This source identifies Fr. Boulous as a priest of the Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church.
Perhanps the photo of the bishop is a visiting Catholic bishop attending the funeral.
http://www.socmnet.org/

Fr. Boulous Iskander Beheaded in Mosul


Father Boulos Iskander, vicar of the St. Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church in Mosul was brutally decapitated in Iraq. He was kidnapped by a fanatic Islamic group on Sunday (08 October 2006) apparently in protest against H.H. Pope Benedict's recent speech. They forced the community in Mosul to write 30 large posters denying what His Holiness had cited about Mohammad, the prophet of Islam. Although the community complied with the demand, the fanatics killed the priest.

The Bishop of Mosul H.E. Mor Gregorios Saliba Chamoun received the news of the tragedy during a session of the Holy Synod of Universal Syriac Orthodox Church in Damascus. Mor Gregorios immediately left Damascus to return to Mosul to be with the faithful at this very difficult time.

Source: Arab Times Daily



The decapitated body of Fr. Iskander was found Wednesday evening in an industrial area of the city. His arms showed signs of torture.

"He was a good man and we all shed tears for him," said Eman Saaur, a 45-year-old schoolteacher who said she attended Iskender's church regularly. "He was a man of peace."

Relatives, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said the unidentified group that seized Iskander on Sunday had demanded a ransom and that his church condemned a statement made by Pope Benedict XVI last month that ignited waves of anger throughout the Muslim world.

Before Iskander was kidnapped the church already had put up signs condemning the statement and calling for good relations between Christians and Muslims, his relatives said.

Relatives said the priest's oldest son had been in contact with the kidnappers on mobile telephones. He negotiated the ransom payment down to US$ 35,000 and had agreed to pay, but contact abruptly ceased Tuesday night.

Fr Iskander was laid to rest at Mosul's Syriac Orthodox St Ephrem Church. More than 500 people attended a memorial service on Thursday.

"It was a tragedy," said Hazim Shaaiya, 60, who had come to the memorial service to pay respects. "Father Amer Iskender was a peaceful, kind and religious man."

Iraq's highest Sunni religious authority, the Ulema Council, called the priest's death "a cowardly murder". In a press release, they said that the Orthodox priest was well known for "his nationalist views and opposition to the occupation".


"The Ulema Council," the statement said, "condemns this cowardly killing and will not forget those who are behind this crime, committed by people who want to deprive the country of every religious and national symbol that can hold Iraq together by trying to start a religious war between sons of the same nation".















Source: http://www.soku.org/




Through his brutal death, Fr Boulos Iskander joins the ranks of the innumerable martyrs of the Syriac Orthodox Church. May the Lord give his servant good remembrance and protect the faithful in Iraq from their merciless persecutors.

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Beth Suryoyo Assyrian (Othuroyo) Forum

http://www.f21.parsimony.net/forum37811/messages/46287.htmn
Writte by AHIQAR on 11 Oct 2006 22:37:10:

� Bethnahrin.nl �

11 October 2006

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I hope this email finds you in peace and health.

I am writing you from Damascus, where I am attending the Holy Synod meetings. This evening, we were shocked with very sad news from Mousel, Iraq. Our priest Father Boulos Iskander was killed by shooting. Three days ago he was kidnapped by a fanatic group as consequences of H.H. Pope Benedict's recent speech. They forced the community in Mousel to write 30 large posters denying what His Holiness had cited in respect with Mohammad, the prophet of Islam. Although their request was done, the fanatics killed the priest. The Bishop of Mousel H.G. Saliba Chamoun received the tragedy news during the evening session of the Holy Synod. He immediately left the meetings returning to Mousel to be with the faithful at this very difficult time.


I wanted to share this news with you in order to covey to you the image of the hard time Christians are facing in the region.


I kindly ask you to mention the martyr Father Boulos Iskander in your prayers.


Please include all our churches, especially in Iraq, in your prayers.
Sincerely yours,

Eustathius Matta Roham,
Archbishop of Jazirah & Euphrates

Here is the discussion forum homepage:
http://www.f21.parsimony.net/forum37811/index.htm
--------------------------------------------------
This web site has other info on the presecution of Christians

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http://www.socmnet.org/index6.htm

This site has pictures (many pictures!) of the Funeral of Metropolitan Mor Dioscorus Luka Sha'ya of Iraq.
The funeral took place in Iraq on September 22, 2006
Michael can you tell us anything about the hierarchal vestments?

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Syriac and Indian (Malankara) Vestments [sor.cua.edu] - they should be same for Catholic and Orthodox, although the Syriac Catholics seem to have adopted Latin or latinesque vestments and the Malankara Catholic non-tonsured priests do not normally wear the phiro (although I suppose they can and should).

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Amazing! They say that they were insulted by the Pope's quote of Islam being violent, and so they commit violence to have it rebuked...and then to emphasize their protests against being called violent, they commit the most violence during their holiest month!!! confused confused confused

Is this a religion of reasoning or a cult of passions? So the Muslim clerics are now going to the Vatican to complain about the rising anti-Islamic sentiments in the West? Now what in the world do they expect? :rolleyes:

May the martyred priest, Father Boulos Iskander's memory be eternal. frown

Zenovia

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Guys, I understand the anger with Muslims but the Pope is responsible too.He didn't have any clue that this is what was going to result from that speech?!That people weren't going to die as a result?! Why was he willing to take that chance and put other Christians lives in danger?! I don't understand it.

May God bless the soul of Fr. Iskender.

Peace,
Indigo

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How is the Pope responsible? The Pope stated that faith without reason is fanaticism, and reason without faith is atheistic humanism..

Is a man at fault if he tells an alcoholic friend that he needs to slow down, and his friend instead downs another doubleshot and runs into a tree with his car?

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The Pope could have chosen a better example than the one chosen to make his point. With hotheads saying this isn't my thought but someone else's doesn't cut it.After what happened with the comic strips it is clear to most people that a quote that painted Islam in so negative a light would not be regarded by fanatics lightly and that they would retaliate.

I'm not saying the papacy shouldn't exist, for that he should step down.But he is not God,so he does make mistakes. Even Peter made stupid mistakes, plenty of other popes have too, so why be scandalized by the mere idea that Pope Benedict made a truly unwise mistake. Unfortunately other people are paying with their lives for it.

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Oops,make that:

With hotheads, saying this isn't my thought but someone else's doesn't cut it.


much needed comma added

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Indigo your post reminds me of something I read over at 'Sacramentum Vitae' which I think is relevant to bring up: http://mliccione.blogspot.com/2006/12/educated-moral-imbecility.html.


"We love, because he first loved us"--1 John 4:19
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