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)
email
from Amman dated 13th March 2008
Dear Brothers and Sisters
We just received the sad news
that His Excellency Bishop Mar Boulos Faraj
Rahho has been founded dear in Mousoul !! after
two weeks of agony with the terrorists! I would
like to express you my sympathy , on Friday at 4
PM a Mass will be celebrated with the Bishops
of Amman and all the Iraqi families living here
in Amman , the Mass will be in my Church
Sweifieh, after that we will be in the Church's
hall for three days from 4PM until 8 PM
receiving people and friends expressing their
solidarity to the brother of the Bishop MARTYR
and to all the Iraqi in Jordan .
The Mass will not be a funeral
Mass but a Triumphal Mass celebrating the
Victory of Love and Peace over terrorism and
sin .I know very well Bishop Faraj, I sent him
to Madrid in 2005 to be operated ( open heart
) he told me always that he is targeted by the
terrorism but even he was ready to pay the
price of peace and reconciliation in Iraq even
with his blood !
He is the Martyr of the Universal
Church, he is a SAINT .
Fr. Khalil JAAR
Hear the
radio interview, watch the various
videos:
© 2007
ICIN.org.uk