Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Iraqi bishops oppose execution of prelate's convicted killer


(CWNews.com) - Catholic bishops in Iraq have announced their opposition to the execution of a man convicted of killing Archbishop Paulos Faraj Raho, the AsiaNews service reports.
After a court sentenced Ahmad Ali Ahmad to death for his part in the kidnapping and death of Archbishop Rahos, two other prelates of the Chaldean Catholic Church said that the deceased archbishop himself would have opposed the use of the death sentence.
"We are in favor of justice, but not of capital punishment," said Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk. Bishop Shlemon Warduni, an auxiliary in Baghdad, agreed, saying that Archbishop Raho was totally dedicated to reconciliation and peace rather than further bloodshed.
Catholic leaders in Iraq pointed out that authorities had not yet answered any important questions about the kidnapping of Archbishop Raho from his home in Mosul. Among those questions, they pointed out, were the motives of the kidnappers and the Ahmad, the man convicted of the killing, and other members of the terrorist group connected with Al Qaida in Iraq.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hesitate to agree with the Iraqi bishops on this one.

Firstly, because al Qaeda terrorists are so malevolent that it would be socially dangerous to leave any of them alive and unconverted.

Secondly, because to commit a murder is wicked enough, but to do it in hostility to the true religion, or in furtherance of the cause of a false one, links a natural crime to an attack on supernatural goods, and thereby aggravates it by many orders of magnitude in excess of the crime of merely natural crimes.

Volpius Leonius said...

How can you be in favour of justice but not capital punishment, I don't understand that.

The Crescat said...

I felt the same way as the Bishops when I read of the execution. I don't think a martyr would condone the killing of his murderer.

Anonymous said...

Carolina, a martyr would pray for the eternal salvation of his murderer, not that he would be spared capital punishment if the law allows it.

Don't forget that the martyrs have seen the face of the Lord of Hosts at their particular judgement, and I think we can assure ourselves that, once you've seen that the death penalty's trivial by comparison.

Adulio said...

These bishops seemed to have entirely forgotten their Trent Catechism.

(I know they are Iraqi Bishops and so off a different rite but Trent is a universal council surely, that is binding on everyone?)

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