an unspecified ransom, BosNewsLife learned. In a statement, Father Hanna Saad Sirop said he had an "acute awareness of God’s protection" during his ordeal, and pledged he would continue to pray for those who captured him in August. "I do not hate them," Sirop said in published remarks. "I pray for them — I continue to pray for them," he said, adding he had "forgiven" them.
Father Sirop’s captors reportedly contacted Patriarch Emmanuel on August 22, demanding an $800,000 ransom in exchange for the priest’s release. Church sources claimed a smaller ransom amount to Father Sirop’s captors on August 25, withour revealing details, apparently for security reasons.
The 34-year-old priest had been kidnapped August 15 in Baghdad just after celebrating Mass for the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, several Catholic sopurces said. Masked kidnappers reportedly forced the priest Hanna to stop his car, before taking him away.
DANGEROUS NEIGHBORHOOD
He had worked at the St. Jacob Parish in Dora, described by Catholics as "one of Baghdad’s most dangerous" neighborhoods, and also headed the theological section of Babel College, run by the Catholic Church in Baghdad.
Appeals for his release were led by Pope Benedict XVI, who in an August 19 telegram to Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel-Karim Delly of Baghdad, made a "heartfelt appeal to the abductors to release the young priest at once so that he can return to the service of God, the Christian community and his countrymen."
He had planned to go to Rome in early September to study, with the support of charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a plan cut short by the kidnapping. It was not immediately clear which group was responsible for kidnapping the priest, but money appeared to be the main motivation.
GROWING CONCERN
Human rights groups have expressed concern over a growing number of kidnappings of Christians in Iraq, who comprise roughly 3 percent of the population, and have often been seen by Islamic militants as more supportive towards the US-led coalition.
US military officials have been quoted as saying that the average ransom paid for their release was $30,000.
While Father Sirop suggested his eventual release after 27 days was an answer to prayers, he reportedly urged his abductors to delay releasing him as he did not want to be abandoned at night on the streets of Baghdad, where crime groups roam the streets.
His brother eventually picked him up and took him to meet his mother and other family members, Catholic sources said. The priest stressed he now hopes to begin studies in philosophy in Rome. (With reports from Iraq and BosNewsLife Research)
