*Breaking* Gunmen kidnap Iraqi Chaldean Catholic archbishop, kill companions

Breaking news:

Gunmen kidnapped the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul on Friday in the northern Iraqi city and killed his driver and two guards, police said.

"He was kidnapped in the al-Nour district in eastern Mosul when he left a church. Gunmen opened fire on the car, killed the other three and kidnapped the archbishop," said provincial police spokesman Brigadier-General Khaled Abdul Sattar.

An assistant to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad and spiritual leader of Iraq's Catholics, said they had heard three people were killed and they did not know the fate of the archbishop, [who is named] Paulos Faraj Rahho. - Reuters

The previous Archbishop of Mosul, Basil George Casmoussa, was kidnapped in 2005, "but was
released after one day of captivity and said no ransom was paid."

Updates as I see them.

Imagine the outcry from certain Muslims if one of their imams were kidnapped and his companions killed.

The Chaldean from Iraq who sent me this news story is asking us to pray for the captive Archbishop.

update: CWNews adds more:

Bishop Paulos Faraj Raho was seized by terrorists who attacked his car as he left the Holy Spirit cathedral in Mosul after leading the Stations of the Cross on Friday, February 29. Three companions who had been in the car with him were killed.

A Church spokesman in Iraq confirmed that the bishop was in the custody of his kidnappers, who had contacted the Chaldean Church to make a ransom demand. Iraqi Catholics did not know whether or not the bishop had been wounded in the attack.

update 2: the Vatican response:

Pope Benedict XVI called Friday for the swift release of a Chaldean Catholic archbishop who was kidnapped in Iraq, saying the "abominable" act was an attack on the Iraqi church as a whole.

In a statement, Benedict appealed for "reason and humanity" from the kidnappers, who killed the two bodyguards and the driver of Mosul Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho.

Rahho was kidnapped as he left church Friday afternoon. In the statement released by the Vatican press office, the Vatican said the fact that the gunmen knew Rahho was celebrating a religious rite inside indicated the kidnapping was premeditated.

The Vatican said the pope was immediately informed about the "abominable" kidnapping and was spiritually close to Rahho's family and the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq, Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly.