ASIA/IRAQ - “I felt loved like a son” says Syrian Catholic Bishop of Mosul released by kidnappers after John Paul II intervened

Baghdad (Fides Service)- Syrian Catholic Bishop Basile Georges Casmoussa of Mosul released by his captors thanks also to an immediate intervention by Pope John Paul II says Iraqi Catholics are grieving and mourning the passing of the Pope: “Catholics in every church in Mosul and surrounding countryside, even in the smallest villages, are praying for the Holy Father. Our believers are simple people, but animated by fervent faith and filled with love for the Supreme Pontiff”.
The Bishop said that at a school he visited he saw children aged 5-7 praying in front of a photograph of John Paul II. “I could hardly hold back my tears, the Bishop said, as I thought of the Pope and remembered his immediate appeal to my kidnappers to release me”. Bishop Basile said that the Pope acted with the concern of a father for his son: “I felt loved like a son”, the Bishop said. (A.E.) (Agenzia Fides 7/4/2005 righe 18 parole 203 )