ROME - A Catholic Chaldean priest and five of his parishioners have been abducted in Baghdad, the Catholic news agency Asianews reported Wednesday, three days after the murder of another Chaldean priest and three deacons in northern Mosul.
Asianews said Father Hani Abdel Ahad, a little over 30, and the five others were picked up in the Suleikh quarter in northeast Baghdad, but it did not say when.
A Chaldaean Catholic priest, Ragheed Ganni, 31, and three of his assistants were shot dead on Sunday outside a church in Mosul.
Pope Benedict XVI was "deeply saddened" by the murders, calling them "senseless killings," the Vatican said Monday.
The pope is to discuss the Iraq war when he meets with visiting US President George W. Bush on Saturday, Benedict's righthand man Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said at the weekend.
Speaking to Avvenire, a newspaper for Italian bishops, Bertone lamented "the dramatic situation for Iraqi Christians, which continues to get worse."
The Chaldean Catholic church is an autonomous Eastern rite church that maintains full communion with the Vatican. It has an estimated 600,000 to 700,000 followers.
Last month, the leaders of Iraq's Christian minority called on the country's beleaguered government to protect their community from attacks by Al-Qaeda-inspired Muslim extremists.
06/06/2007 15:58 GMT