Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, archbishop of Mosul, was kidnapped and killed by unknown assailants in 2008. Spite of the threats, he said: “As long as it remains here only one Christian, I’m not leaving.
On Saturday, when newspapers and TV from all over the world have broadcast the news and the video of the first speech of public Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the ‘ self-proclaimed caliph of the newborn Islamic state created by ‘ Isil on the border between Iraq and Syria, I have come in mind some of the words that Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho (pictured right), then the Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, told me during an interview I granted January 9, 2008: “Iraq under a power obscurantist Islamic sink into poverty and powerlessness, and international powers will be able to master it better. “
Six and a half years later, the grim prophecy of what was to become the first archbishop martyr of modern Iraq has been translated into reality. The country is falling apart, the influence of foreign powers and armed gangs is getting stronger, the riches of Iraq are at the mercy of those who are strong enough to put your finger on. And a bitter fate would have it, just the city became the capital of the archbishop martyr Islamist obscurantism in power.
That that day was not any interview: neither of them knew it, but it was the last time that the Iraqi prelate spoke with a foreign journalist. Fifty days later, on February 29, Rahho was kidnapped while trying to drive away from the parish of the Holy Spirit where he chaired a Way of the Cross. Killed the driver and two companions, the kidnappers threw the bishop in the trunk of a vehicle and took him away. His lifeless body was found March 13, buried on the outskirts of the city. He had died of hardship and heartbreak during his imprisonment, due to the lack of administration of the drugs he needed, being cardiac and diabetic.
According to some reconstructions had done on time, at the time of the seizure, to tell the phone to the Secretaries of the archdiocese not to pay any ransom to the kidnappers. We would not be surprised if things had gone really well: Rahho had a strong and brave, which contrasted singularly with his physical appearance, marked by a clear symptom of the fragility ill health.
Prior to the kidnapping which would not come out alive, had already received death threats eleven times through anonymous letters or phone calls. In December 2004 his archbishopric had been rendered unusable by a powerful explosion, a group of armed rebels had entered, had brought out the present aiming their weapons against them, had undermined the building and made him jump. Had escaped a kidnapping attempt in March 2007 (“It was the feast of the Annunciation and I was going to the church of St. George, I think I know for sure who saved me,” she said, smiling.)Some time after our interview would had another dangerous adventure. On his way in clerical garb to say Mass in a church in the old town, the most dangerous area of Mosul, he met a young masked and armed that would have pointed a gun shouting: “Go back or I’ll shoot.” Mgr.Rahho would have continued on his way by replying: “I’m going to celebrate Mass, you do ‘what you want.” Surprised by such audacity, the young man had hesitated and then he slipped away through the narrow streets.
After that at a cleric who advised him to spend more time away from the city had replied: “As long as it remains here only a Christian, I’m not leaving.” To my question as to why remain in Mosul despite the worsening situation (just three days earlier, on 6 January, there had been attacks on a church, a convent and an orphanage) had replied pointing to the sky ” From Mosul I do not go, I pimps who are very high. ” When it was installed as archbishop in 2001, in the city there were more than 50 thousand Christians among Chaldean, Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, and so on.
At the time of his abduction had already decreased to 15-20 thousand. Mosul was the first city in Baghdad along with Iraqi target of anti-Christian attacks, when on August 1, 2004, the ancestor of Isil, that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, had launched the first wave of attacks on churches and other institutions. The first where they had been killed Christian priests: the Syriac Orthodox Paulos Iskandar, the Presbyterian minister monther Saqa and the Chaldean parish priest Ragheed Ganni .
At the time of his abduction had already decreased to 15-20 thousand. Mosul was the first city in Baghdad along with Iraqi target of anti-Christian attacks, when on August 1, 2004, the ancestor of Isil, that Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, had launched the first wave of attacks on churches and other institutions. The first where they had been killed Christian priests: the Syriac Orthodox Paulos Iskandar, the Presbyterian minister monther Saqa and the Chaldean parish priest Ragheed Ganni .
The ultimate appeal for unityMonsignor Rahho If you saw today what happened to his city (where, according to sources of the Patriarchate of Baghdad, were only 500 Christians) speak loud and clear against the bad government of al-Maliki who created the conditions for all this and against the jihadists who are destroying Iraq. How did the days of the American occupation and the rebellion of the ancestors Işil.When the commander of the American troops went to bring his solidarity for the destruction of the archbishop at the end of 2004, Rahho replied: “Terrorism in Iraq have brought him to you. You have chosen Iraq as a battleground between you and the terrorists to not have to fight them at home. ” He challenged the jihadists after each attack the churches: “You call yourselves” resistant “, but instead attacked the occupants other Iraqis.”
On the situation of Christians had very clear ideas: “We kidnap and attack our churches accusing us of being on the side of the Allies, but it’s just an excuse, they know that is not true. We were opposed to military intervention against Saddam Hussein, and we are opposed to the occupation. The truth is they want to seize the goods of Christians and to empty Iraq of our presence. They want us to do with what the Turks did to the Armenians in the last days of the Ottoman Empire. “
The archbishop kidnappers were never identified. Only he was tried and sentenced to death a single exponent of what was then Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Rahho left a strong appeal for unity and ecumenism among Iraqis in his will: “I ask you to be open to our Muslim brothers and Yazidis, and to all the children of our beloved homeland, to work together to build strong links of love and brotherhood among the children of our beloved country, Iraq. “
No comments:
Post a Comment