Iraqi church leader killed by kidnappers.
Earlier this month, Compass Direct reported on the “huge ransom” that kidnappers were demanding in exchange for the release of Iraqi Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho. Yesterday, Rahho’s body was found outside Mosul.
The archbishop was kidnapped on February 29 by armed gunmen who killed his driver and two security guards. According to Nineveh deputy governor Khasro Goran, Rahho’s church and family members had been in contact with the kidnappers, whose demands they apparently did not meet. Talks broke off several days ago, and the kidnappers contacted Rahho’s relatives on Thursday to let them know where to find his body.
The BBC posted a good explainer piece about Chaldean Christians today. As Eastern-rite Catholics, Chaldean Christians use a Syriac liturgy—Syriac being related to Aramaic, the language most likely spoken by Jesus. About 550,000 live in Iraq, with a sizable community of about 50,000 in Mosul, a hotspot for insurgent activity.
Posted by Madison Trammel on March 13, 2008 10:54AM
Comments
Deeply saddened with the the kidnapping and killing of a beloved brther in Christ. I would plead for fervent prayers from every Christian around the globe for an end to this barbarity and savagery that is taking place against multitude of Christians around the world. May the Lord's peace and comfort surround the Bishop's immediate family as well as his flock.
Posted by: Mel Matthias at March 13, 2008
I checked out the explainer piece on the BBC, and there is a misleading statement there about the beliefs of the Nestorian Church, which has a part in the Chaldean Church's history. The piece says of them, "Nestorianism ascribes to the belief that Jesus Christ has two natures - that of a divine being, the Son of a God, and that of a mortal human." Actually, it is orthodox to believe that Jesus Christ has two natures--human and divine--in one Person. But, instead, Nestorianism ascribes to the belief that Jesus Christ exists as two persons: the man Jesus and the divine Son of God, rather than as two natures of one divine person (True God and True Man).
Posted by: Gaylan Mathiesen at March 13, 2008
By his lies and duplicity, George W. Bush has furthered one goal of militant Islam: to destabilize the Iraqi Christian community.For this there is only great repentance for us who tragically voted for his administration.
Rev. Kenneth J. Macari
Posted by: Kenneth J. Macari at March 13, 2008
What a shock, it is a very sad day for humanity as a whole, and specifically for Christians... May God the Almighty rest the soul of the departing Bishop, and grant all of us the necessary serenity to cope with the loss... praying for enlightment to the minds of all.
Posted by: Theodora Issa at March 14, 2008
May The Lord give the family of the departed saint the fortitude to bear the loss and the executors of this dastardly act the understanding to know that they are the victims.May The Lord forgive them. As the Bible says if the devil had known he would not have killed the king of glory. Something good will come out of this in Jesus name.
Posted by: Eno-Abasi Unogu at March 14, 2008
There is always somebody who blames President Bush, regardless of the issue: penguin poisoning in Antarctica or the assassination of a Christian Archbishop by Muslim thugs. This time around we owe our thanks to the Rev. Kenneth J. Macari for this less than novel insight.
Posted by: Noreen Mazelis at March 14, 2008
Who will the Rev. Kenneth J. Macari and his kind blame for the murder and forceful conversion of thousands of Christians by radical Muslims in all the middle-eastern countries that were at one time majority Christian such as Turkey, Jordan, Egypt etc.? George W. Bush wasn't around then, was he?
Posted by: George Chav at March 21, 2008
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