Faith Central: read about the kidnapping

The Times Obituary

The body of Iraq's kidnapped Chaldean Catholic Archbishop has been found near the northern city of Mosul, prompting warnings of a mass exodus of Christians from Iraq.

Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho was abducted on February 29 shortly after leaving Mass in Mosul, in what the Pope described as an "abominable" act. The three people who were with him were killed by the kidnappers.

"Monsignor Rahho is dead. We have found him lifeless near Mosul," the auxiliary bishop of Iraq, Monsignor Shlemon Warduni, told the Italian SIR news agency today.

A host of leading charities and Christians in Iraq warned that the community now faced a mass exodus amid rising threats, discrimination and violence.

Reacting to the killing, Pope Benedict XVI said it caused him "deep sadness". He added: "The most absurd and unjustified violence continues to afflict the Iraqi people and in particular the small Christian community."

Canon Andrew White, the only Anglican vicar working in Baghdad warned of the "very real danger faced by Christians in Iraq", adding: "This awful event happened in the very heartland of Iraqi Christianity in Nineveh. We are in tears - we are devasted. We are not giving up our faith in Jesus and I am not leaving this beloved land of Iraq."

Daniel Hoffman, director of Middle East Concern, a charity campaigning for the rights of Christians in Iraq, today said that - fearing for their safety - the killing could lead to Christians leaving Iraq in even greater numbers.

"This will lead to an exodus of the Christian community in Iraq," he said. "This is going to be a very heavy blow for the Church. The community is devastated."

His concerns were echoed by John Pontifex, a spokesman for Aid to the Church in Need, which campaigned for the archbishop's release. He said the death of the archbishop would send a clear signal "that no one among the Christian community is safe".

He added: "Among the parishioners, fears about safety have escalated to such a degree that this piece of news is like the last straw and will only serve to increase the exodus of Christians which may well result in the extinction of Christianity in Iraq.

"The situation has become materially worse over the last four years for Christians and the West has ignored the issue."

Dr Suha Rassam, of Iraqi Christians In Need, added that Christianity appeared doomed in Iraq unless observers went underground.

“The only way for the Church in the Mosul area to survive might be if it goes underground, like it did in the first and second centuries," she said. "This way, Mass and other services would be held in secret and priests go about their duties clandestinely."

The Chaldean church, to which he belonged, is an Eastern-rite denomination that recognises the authority of the Pope and is aligned with Rome. There are just over 600,000 Christians in Iraq, less than two per cent of the population, but Chaldeans are believed to be the largest grouping.

Since the US-led invasion in 2003, Iraqi Christians have been targeted by Islamist extremists who label them "crusaders" loyal to U.S. troops. Churches, priests and businesses owned by Christians have been attacked by Islamic militants, and many have fled the country.

Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s Prime Minister, pledged last autumn to protect and support the Christian minority.

In an interview with AsiaNews, a Vatican-affiliated missionary news agency, in November, Mr Rahho had said that the situation in Mosul was not improving and "religious persecution is more noticeable than elsewhere because the city is split along religious lines."

He added: "Everyone is suffering from this war irrespective of religious affiliation, but in Mosul Christians face starker choices."