"I spoke with father Nawzat P. Hanna last night over the phone. He is alive. But I can’t say more than that. At this stage, we have to be wise and cautious". This was said to SIR by the auxiliary bishop of Baghdad, the Chaldeian Shlemon Warduni, about what happened to father Nawzat P. Hanna, parish priest of the Chaledeian Catholic Church of Mar Pithion, in the district of Baladiyat, who was abducted by strangers in the morning of Saturday 19th May. "A very high ransom has been asked explains the bishop which is not within our means. However we are trying to have him released. And we pray that all this may end soon and successfully". The abduction of the Chaldeian priest, which follows that of other priests and believers in the last few months, is a clear sign of the problems that Christians are encountering in Iraq. (continued)
