We know that all the Apostles except for John died a Martyr's death. Today we learn that one of their Successors followed in their Footsteps.
The archbishop of Mosul is dead BAGHDAD, Iraq, Mar. 13 (CNN) --
A Christian archbishop kidnapped in northern Iraq last month has been found dead, according to a Nineveh province deputy governor in the town of Mosul. Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paul Faraj Rahho was found Thursday near Mosul, where he and three companions were ambushed by gunmen on February 29.
The others were killed, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had ordered security services to make it a priority to find and free the archbishop. The kidnapping was condemned across the world, and came from the Vatican, Jordan's Prince Hassan, and the United Nations. It came during a push by Iraqi and U.S. troops against al Qaeda in Iraq insurgents in Mosul. Christians are a tiny fraction of Iraq's population, but insurgents have targeted their religious sites and leaders in recent years.
Kidnapped Chaldean archbishop found dead ROME, Mar. 13 (AFP) -
A Chaldean Catholic archbishop kidnapped last month in northern Iraq was found dead on Thursday, the information service of the Italian Catholic Church said Thursday. The body of Paulos Faraj Rahho, the archbishop of Mosul who was kidnapped on February 29, was found near the northern city, the Church said, quoting the auxiliary archbishop of Baghdad, Shlemon Warduni. It was unclear if he died of natural causes or was killed. The kidnappers had telephoned to inform the Baghdad prelate that Rahho, who was in poor health, had died and that they had buried him, the Church's news agency SIR reported.
"The kidnappers had told us already yesterday (Wednesday) that Monsignor Rahho was very ill, and yesterday afternoon they told us that he died. This morning, they telephoned us to say they had buried him," Warduni said, adding that the kidnappers indicated the location of the body. "We still don't know whether he died from his poor health or was killed," Warduni said. "The kidnappers only told us that he was dead."
Rahho was kidnapped in Mosul after a deadly shootout in which three of his companions were killed. Pope Benedict XVI reacted with "deep sadness" to the news of Rahho's death, a Vatican spokesman said. "The most absurd and unjustified violence continues to afflict the Iraqi people and in particular the small Christian community whom the pope ... holds in his prayers ... in this time of deep sadness," Father Federico Lombardi said. "This tragic event underscored once more and with more urgency the duty of all, and in particular of the international community, to bring peace to a country that has been so tormented," Lombardi said.
Iraqi forces in Mosul had fanned out to search for Rahho, who was the latest in a long line of Chaldean clerics to be abducted in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003. Two priests were kidnapped in the city in October, and last June a priest and three deacons were attacked in front of their church. Iraq's Christians, with the Chaldean sect by far the largest community, were said to number as many as 800,000 before the 2003 invasion. Associated with the "Crusader" invaders and regarded as well-off, they are now victims of sectarian cleansing, killings and kidnappings at the hands of both Sunni and Shiite Islamists, as well as criminal gangs.
Bishop kidnapped in Iraq is dead ROME,
Mar. 13 (AP) -
A Chaldean Catholic archbishop kidnapped in Iraq last month has been found dead, the news agency of Italian bishops' conference reported on Thursday. The SIR news agency says Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho was found dead near the Iraqi city of Mosul, where he had been abducted. "Monsignor Rahho is dead. We have found him lifeless near Mosul," the agency quoted the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, Monsignor Shlemon Warduni, as saying. "The kidnappers had buried him." Rahho was kidnapped on Feb. 29 soon after he left Mass in Mosul. Three people who had been with him were killed by the kidnappers. Pope Benedict XVI immediately called for his release and said the abduction was an "abominable" act. The Chaldean church is an Eastern-rite denomination that recognizes the authority of the Pope.
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