Catholic Archbishop Abducted in Iraq
Catholic Archbishop Abducted in Iraq (Fox – AP)
A Roman Catholic archbishop in Mosul, Iraq, has been kidnapped, the Vatican (search) said Monday. It identified the kidnapped man as Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa, 66, of the Syrian Catholic Church, one of the branches of the Roman Catholic Church. “The Holy See deplores in the firmest way such a terrorist act,” a Vatican statement said, demanding that he be freed immediately.
A priest in Iraq said on condition of anonymity that the archbishop was walking in front of the Al-Bishara church in Mosul’s eastern neighborhood of Muhandeseen when gunmen forced him into a car and drove away. Mosul is a northern Iraqi city that in recent months has been a hotspot of violent insurgency. The reason for the kidnapping was unclear, but Christians — tens of thousands of whom live in and around Mosul — have been subjected to attacks in the past. Christians make up just 3 percent of Iraq’s 26 million people. The major Christian groups in Iraq include Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians. There are small numbers of Roman Catholics.
This kidnapping may well have been motivated by money rather than religion or ideology, but there’s not much information right now.
Via e-mail tip from Rusty Shackleford, whose site I can’t access at the moment.
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Archbishop Kidnapped in Iraq
boston.com A Roman Catholic archbishop in Mosul, Iraq, has been kidnapped, the Vatican said Monday. It identified the kidnapped man as Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa, 66, of the Syrian Catholic Church, one of the branches of the Roman Catholic Chu…
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Archbishop Taken Hostage in Mosul
The only reason why an Archbishop would be taken hostage is for shock value. While the Catholic church is wealthy, an Archbishop is not, therefore it would be a serious miscalculation if this were the work of a ransom seeking group.
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Catholic Archbishop Kidnapped in Mosul
The monsignor was taken outside his home (Turkish Press report) or his church (BBC report) and tossed into the trunk of a car before it sped away. The Vatican was notified and spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the Pope “condemns in the firmest mann…
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Basile Georges Casmoussa, Catholic Archbishop, Taken Hostage In Iraq
Catholic Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa, 66, was taken hostage in outside of his church in Mosul. A witness said a car drove up, grabbed the Archbishop and threw him in the trunk and drove away. No group has claimed the…
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