BAGHDAD (AP) - An Assyrian Orthodox priest was shot to death Saturday by gunmen using silencers as the Christian cleric and his wife returned home after a trip to the market in Baghdad. Father Youssef Adel, 47, had tried to escape the sectarian violence, fleeing the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Dora at a time when insurgents were burning down churches and uprooting Christians from their homes on threat of death. He moved with his wife, Lamia, to a relatively safe area in the mostly Shiite central district of Karradah and presided over services at the nearby St. Peter and Paul church, according to an assistant. But in a tragic example of the dangers that continue to face Iraqis despite a sharp drop in violence, Adel was shot to death by gunmen near the gate of his house, another priest in the same church said, also declining to be identified for fear of becoming a target himself.
The gunmen used silencers, and his wife who was with him did not realize what happened until she saw her husband collapse, the priest said.
Neighbors and members of the congregation wept as they flocked to Adel's house to pay their condolences to his wife. The funeral was scheduled for Sunday. "Everybody is shocked," said Matti Zaki, a fellow priest who was among the mourners. "The sadness is everywhere in the house. I cannot find the suitable words to express the ordeal the family is going through."
Adel's assistant said the priest, who was married but had no children, directed a religiously mixed school for Muslims and Christians at the church. Adel, an engineer who became a priest about six years ago, was described as a compassionate man who preached about love and peace, and was heavily involved in helping orphans and widows and other charities.
"We never expected today's ugly killing because the assassinated priest has no enemies at all," Archbishop Severius Hawa said.
| Umm, not exactly ... |