The priest, identified as Father Yousif Adel of Saint Peter’s Church, was killed by gunmen on board a car around noon local time, according to witnesses.
A nun who was with Adel when the incident occurred was not hurt. The priest was reportedly brought to Ibn Nafis hospital in central Baghdad, but was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Adel’s assistant, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said the attack occurred just before noon local time, adding that the gunmen fled the area in a car after the shooting.
The priest was in his early 40s and was married but had no children. Adel was an engineer but became a priest about six years ago. He previously served in a church in the predominantly Sunni area of Dora in southern Baghdad, but moved to the central primarily Shiite district of Karradah after several attacks.
COMPASSIONATE MAN
Adel was described by his assistant as "a compassionate man who preached about love and peace” and was heavily involved in helping orphans and widows in his church. "We are paying the price of the insecurity hitting this country," he told the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI expressed sorrow over the killing, saying in a telegram that he "prayed that the Iraqi people find peace to build a tolerant society."
Christians have come under frequent attack in Iraq in recent months. The body of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, an Iraqi Chaldean Catholic, was found last month in Mosul, days after he was kidnapped.
RELIGIOUS CLEANSING
Saturday’s assassination came shortly after Dutch parliamentarian Joel Voordewind, who investigates reports of persecution, said Muslim militants have launched “a religious cleansing campaign” against Iraqi Christians.
Elsewhere in Baghdad Saturday, April 5, at least three people were killed and 15 others wounded when a bomb planted on a minibus exploded, news reports said. Baghdad has been plagued by a surge in violence after months of relative security following an increase in U.S. troops in Iraq.
However the United States military suggested it has some success saying on Saturday, April 5, that a coalition airs strike in support of Iraqi security forces in the southern city of Basra killed an armed criminal. Basra was the scene of recent deadly clashes between Iraqi security forces and Shi’ite militias loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Pope Benedict XVI has appealed for an end of violence in Iraq and the cessation of attacks against Christians in Iraq. Before the US-led invasion began there were an estimated 750,000 Christians in Iraq, but many have since fled the country or are internally displaced, church sources say. (With BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos and Eric Leijenaar).
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