Fr Ragheed Ganni:Ragheed Ganni (35), a Chaldean catholic priest murdered this week in Iraq, will be remembered as a martyr of the Chaldean Church, according to Mgr Philippe Najam, the Chaldean Church's representative at the Vatican.
Speaking at a memorial Mass for Fr Ganni, held this week in the Irish Pontifical College in Rome, Mgr Najam said Fr Ganni's killing in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul last Sunday, along with three Chaldean deacons, was a vivid reminder of the current plight of the Chaldean faithful and the Chaldean Church in Iraq.
Fr Ganni and the deacons were stopped after saying Mass last Sunday night. Fr Ganni's fingers were first shot off before his body was riddled with at least 15 bullets.
The Chaldeans, oriental Christians of the East Syrian rite descended from the ancient Nestorian churches, are an endangered species in today's Iraq where, in the face of Islamic fundamentalism, their churches are routinely closed, their cars burned and where they are subject to forced conversions and kidnappings.
Fr Ganni, who studied at the Irish College in Rome from 1996 to 2001, knew the grim reality of the situation in his native Iraq all too well.
In a message to mourners this week, President Mary McAleese said that as recently as Pentecost Sunday there had been a bomb attack on his church. The rector of the Irish College, Mgr Liam Bergin, said Fr Ganni's attitude to his home country was unequivocal. Just as long as there was a Chaldean community in Iraq which needed the ministry of a priest, then he would return there and stay there whatever the risks.
Born in Mosul, the son of an English teacher, Fr Ganni first qualified as an engineer.
As a very young man, he was caught up in Desert Storm, having been conscripted by the Saddam Hussein army of the day.
In his early 20s he opted for the priesthood, entering the Irish College in Rome in 1996 after he had been sponsored by the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Seán Brady, who was responding to a request from the Chaldean Church which had been keen to find somewhere in Rome for their young seminarian.
During his seminary studies, Fr Ganni was banned from returning to Iraq because of his faith, and often spent that time in Ireland, including a spell working at the Lough Derg pilgrimage site in Co Donegal.
Fr Ganni is survived by his parents, Aziz and Gourgia, sisters Ghada, Inas and Raghad, and brothers Firas and Ghadir.
• Ragheed Ganni: born 1972; died June 3rd, 2007