Prayers for Mossul

Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mossul of the Chaldeans in Iraq, who was kidnapped late last month, was found dead. No matter your opinion of the American war against Iraq, you have to wonder at the senselessness of his death. A man devoted to prayer and service, of God and of the People of God, killed by people who, I assume, believe God wants violence like this.
No matter how good or great God is and no matter how much respect we must show to the divine, no one is ever justified in taking this type of action in the name of God. The Catholic Church made mistakes a very long time ago regarding violence in the name of Christ, but the Church and society has evolved to realize the stupidity of such thought.
May the soul of Archbishop Rahho, all the souls in purgatory, rest in peace.

VATICAN CITY, 13 MAR 2008 (VIS) – Benedict XVI has sent a telegram to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Iraq, for the death of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mossul of the Chaldeans, Iraq, who was kidnapped on 29 February.
In his telegram the Pope expresses his closeness “to the Chaldean Church and to the entire Christian community”, reaffirming his “condemnation for an act of inhuman violence which offends the dignity of human beings and seriously damages the cause of the fraternal coexistence of the beloved Iraqi people”.
Benedict XVI gives assurances of his prayers for the archbishop “who was kidnapped just after he had completed the Way of the Cross” and invokes the Lord’s mercy “that this tragic event may serve to build a future of peace in the martyred land of Iraq”.
Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. also released the following declaration today:
“We had all continued to hope and pray for his release, something the Pope had requested on a number of occasions in his appeals.
“Unfortunately the most senseless and unjustified violence continues to be inflicted on the Iraqi people, and especially on the small Christian community to which the Pope and all of us are particularly close in prayer and solidarity at this moment of great suffering.
“It is to be hoped that this tragic event may once more – and more powerfully – underline the responsibility of everyone, and especially of the international community, for the pacification of so troubled a country”.
OP/DEATH ARCHBISHOP MOSSUL/LOMBARDI VIS 080313 (270)


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