Church in the World

Pope condemns Mosul archbishop’s kidnapping

Iraq

The Pope has condemned the kidnapping of the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul at gunpoint and the killing of his three companions as an "atrocious act, which profoundly strikes the entire Church in the country".

A statement released by the Vatican on the day of the abduction, last Friday, using unusually strong language, said that the Pope was "embittered" by the event.

Kidnappers seized Archbishop Faraj Rahho, 65, at gunpoint outside the Holy Spirit Cathedral and shot dead three men who were with him. They have demanded US$1 million for his ransom.

Mediators acting for the Church spoke to the kidnappers, whose identity is not known, on Sunday, but were not allowed to speak to the archbishop. Archbishop Rahho has a heart complaint and needs medication. As The Tablet went to press he was still being held. On Tuesday Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered Iraq's security forces to make an all-out effort to secure the archbishop's release.

Bishop Andreas Abouna of Baghdad said that church leaders were outraged by the kidnappers' demands but were "full of hope" that the archbishop was alive and that negotiations could begin for his release. He told the charity Aid to the Church in Need: "The people who are dealing with the kidnappers have told them it is impossible to afford the ransom. The people responsible have obviously done this for money but they clearly also wanted to scare the Christians in Mosul and all over the country and let them know they are not safe."

The bishop said that Archbishop Rahho's disappearance was "more concerning" than the January 2005 day-long kidnapping of Archbishop Georges Casmoussa, also from Mosul. Bishop Abouna said he told the "angry and scared" congregation at Baghdad's Our Lady of the Assumption Church: "It is not that to be a Christian is full of sadness, but Jesus told us that people would have to suffer for him."