The late Archbishop of Mosul, Paulos Faraj Rahho

New York City, N.Y., Jun 1, 2009 / 11:45 pm (CNA).- The Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul Paulos Faraj Rahho will posthumously receive the 2009 Path to Peace Award, the Path to Peace Foundation has announced. The award will recognize Christians who have remained in Iraq to witness to their faith.

Archbishop Rahho was abducted by gunmen in Iraq on February 29, 2008 outside his church in Mosul as he drove home after a prayer service. He was found dead two weeks later, with his bodyguards and driver also having been murdered during his abduction. The archbishop was born in 1942 in Mosul. Ordained to the priesthood in June 1965, he was appointed to St. Isaiah’s Church in Mosul. He later founded the Church of the Sacred Heart at Tel Keppe, a new Mosul district.

Archbishop Rahho also opened an orphanage for disabled children.

He was ordained Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul on February 16, 2001, thus becoming responsible for about 20,000 Catholics in ten parishes. Mosul has one of the oldest Christian populations in the world.

The Path to Peace Award will be presented at a Gala Dinner at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on June 9, 2009.

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