Friday, March 14, 2008

Chaldean archbishop's death

This event saddened me in a deeply personal way. There is a large community of Chaldean Catholics in my town. We happen to live directly across from St. Anthony's Assyrian Chaldean Catholic Church.

Pope calls murder of archbishop "inhuman"

Pope Benedict has condemned the murder of the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul, who was kidnapped in Iraq last month. The body of Paulos Faraj Rahho was found by police in an empty lot in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed the archbishop's death on al Qaeda and stressed that his Shi'ite Islamist-led government was committed to protecting Christians, who make up about 3 percent of the population in mostly Muslim Iraq. Chaldeans belong to a branch of the Roman Catholic Church and form the biggest Christian community in Iraq.

No comments: