Chaldean Patriarchate: Reports of Priest Murdered in Mosul Unfounded
By Joseph Mahmoud?
Posted 2015-02-05 18:20 GMT
Baghdad
-- The Chaldean Patriarchate "strongly denies recent news stories that
report a priest being executed by Islamic State militants in Mosul". In
recent days, rumors spread of the execution of a certain Fr. Paul
Jacoub, detained for more than eight months by jihadists. However, in a
statement sent to AsiaNews, the Chaldean Church leaders say that the
news is unfounded.
The statement signed by the Chaldean Patriarch Mar Louis Raphael I Sako reads that "there has never been a priest of this name in the Iraqi Church", Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant. He adds that now "there are no more Christians in Mosul," the second-largest city in Iraq and since last June stronghold of the Islamic State militia.
The Chaldean Patriarchate also asks media not to circulate these false rumors, which are only intended to scare the local Christians and the Western world. "At the very moment we spread them - he warns- we end up playing into the jihadists hands".
Finally, the Chaldean Patriarchate remembers that the two religious kidnapped in Mosul last July were released after two weeks and that, to date, there are no priests kidnapped in Mosul or in the hands of Islamist militias.
The statement signed by the Chaldean Patriarch Mar Louis Raphael I Sako reads that "there has never been a priest of this name in the Iraqi Church", Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant. He adds that now "there are no more Christians in Mosul," the second-largest city in Iraq and since last June stronghold of the Islamic State militia.
The Chaldean Patriarchate also asks media not to circulate these false rumors, which are only intended to scare the local Christians and the Western world. "At the very moment we spread them - he warns- we end up playing into the jihadists hands".
Finally, the Chaldean Patriarchate remembers that the two religious kidnapped in Mosul last July were released after two weeks and that, to date, there are no priests kidnapped in Mosul or in the hands of Islamist militias.
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