Aid to the Church in Need: Iraq: Is Archbishop Faraj Rahho still alive?

Iraq: Is Archbishop Faraj Rahho still alive?

Posted by Press Release on 10/3/2008, 10:19 am
Message modified by board administrator 7/8/2008, 1:37 pm

ACN News, Monday, 10th March 2008 – IRAQ

Is the archbishop still alive?

By John Pontifex

CONCERNS are growing for an archbishop from Iraq seized at gunpoint after ominous signs from his kidnappers.

Exactly a week after Archbishop Faraj Rahho of Mosul was kidnapped at gunpoint outside his cathedral, his captors have still refused to let anybody speak to him directly despite regular contact with mediators acting on behalf of the Church.

Soon after the archbishop was taken, his kidnappers issued a ransom demand of US$1 million, subsequently raised it to US$2 million and today (Friday), it went up to US$3.

(Chaldean Archbishop Rahho with some his fellow priests, sisters and lay people of Mosul - Photo ACN)

Speaking from Iraq in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk said: “We are really very worried about the archbishop.

“On Friday, he was able to make a call from the back of the car in which he was kidnapped but since then nothing,” he said. “The people in contact with the kidnappers have over several days asked to hear the archbishop’s voice but they are constantly refused.”

The archbishop said he was alarmed by the increase in the ransom demand, saying that it contradicted the normal pattern of successful negotiations in which the sum was normally reduced.

“It leaves us with two possibilities,” Archbishop Sako said. “Either the archbishop is sick or injured or he has been killed and the kidnappers just want to get as much money as possible.”

He stressed the archbishop’s poor health, noting his heart condition for which he needs regular medication.

He added: “Really, this is a kind of mourning time. There is nothing from the archbishop – no sign. We don’t know where we are heading with this process – the future is totally unknown.”

The archbishop said it was now clearer who was behind the kidnapping but “for security reasons” could not say more.

Archbishop Sako said: “At the beginning, I was thinking that they could be criminals, or that they are just out for money. Now I am thinking something quite different.” He added: “They are organised people.”

He said that for the kidnappers releasing the archbishop ran the risk of him later identifying them and giving an eye-witness account of the killing of the three men who were with him when he was seized last Friday (29th February).

Archbishop Sako’s comments contrast sharply with the optimism on Monday (3rd March) when Bishop Andreas Abouna of Baghdad told Aid to the Church in Need that Church leaders were “full of hope” for Archbishop Rahho’s release.

Pope Benedict XVI has made repeated appeals for Archbishop Rahho’s release, stating on Sunday (2nd March) before the crowds at the Angelus prayer at St Peter’s Basilica, Rome: “I express my closeness to the entire Church in Iraq… which has once again been dealt a serious blow.

“I encourage all of the pastors and faithful to be strong and firm in hope.”

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, contact please contact the Sydney office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web:www.aidtochurch.org

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Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org