Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paul Faraj Rahho Body Found

The body of Archbishop Rahho was found in a shallow grave in Northern Iraq on Thursday. According to a FoxNews report: "officials at the archbishop's church received a phone call Wednesday from the captors. The caller told the officials that Rahho had died and where to find his body."

"A Mosul morgue official, speaking on condition of anonymity for security concerns, said Rahho's body had no bullet holes. The official said police found the body in an early stage of decomposition under a thin layer of dirt just north of the city, suggesting that Rahho had been dead for a few days."

Those who are responsible for the kidnapping are still unknown.

Papa Benedetto sent a telegram to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans expressing his condolences. In it he expressed his closeness "to the Chaldean Church and to the entire Christian community." He went on to reaffirm 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." He also added his prayers "that this tragic event may serve to build a future of peace in the martyred land of Iraq," along with those for the deceased Archbishop. He also invoked a prayer for God's mercy in the situation. (Pope Mourns Death of Kidnapped Iraqi Prelate)

According to the Fox News story: "Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who pledged last fall to protect and support the Christian minority, said in a statement Thursday that 'we condemn and denounce this ugly crime and consider it as an aggression that aims to ignite strife among ... the Iraqi people.'"

United States State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the following: "This is a terrible and tragic act of terrorism, in particular for the Chaldean community. And our thoughts and prayers go out to the archbishop's family, as well as to the entire Chaldean community."

I join in with Papa Benedetto's prayers & hopes for this situation. May those responsible be quickly brought to justice.

Eternal Rest grant unto Archbishop Rahho, O Lord!

& let perpetual light shin upon him!

May his soul & all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace!
Amen!