Baghdad, Iraq - Pope Benedict XVI made a public appeal on Sunday for the release of two Catholic priests kidnapped a day earlier on their way home from a funeral in northern Iraq.
The priests were abducted about 4 p.m. Saturday after participating in a funeral in western Mosul, about 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, according to Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa, Mosul's head of the Syrian Catholic Church, one of the branches of the Roman Catholic Church.
Gunmen ambushed the priests' car, dragged them out and took them to an unidentified location, Casmoussa said Sunday, adding he waited a day to publicize the incident because he had hoped the kidnappers would demand ransom and release the priests. He said he hadn't yet heard from the unidentified men.
Casmoussa was kidnapped in January 2005 and released a day later without ransom after the abductors realized his identity.
Meanwhile, the pope asked the kidnappers to "let the two religious men go."
"Serious reports about attacks and violence in Iraq continues to reach us daily, news that rattles the consciences of all those for whom the good of the country and peace in the region is held dear," he said. "Repeating that violence doesn't resolve tensions. I pray to the Lord for their freedom, for peace and for all those who suffer from violence." The pope made the appeal during his traditional Sunday blessing to pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter's Square.
In Saddam-era Iraq, the country's estimated 800,000 Christians were generally left alone, but after U.S. forces toppled the regime, their situation grew more precarious. In the summer of 2004, insurgents launched a coordinated bombing campaign against Baghdad churches, sending some Christians fleeing in fear.
A second wave of anti-Christian attacks hit in September 2006 after Pope Benedict XVI made comments perceived to be anti-Muslim. Church bombings spiked and a priest, also in Mosul, was kidnapped and later found beheaded.
Many churches are now nearly empty, with their faithful either gone or too scared to attend.
Monday, a priest from a Catholic church in Mosul said he gave out incorrect information that two kidnapped priests had been freed. The Rev. Shamoun Matti said he was initially told by relatives of the priests that they were to be freed Sunday, and that he had mistakenly assumed the release had occurred.
A second official at the church, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the kidnappers had contacted the church at least three times Monday and were demanding $1 million ransom. "Negotiations with the kidnappers are still going on," the official said.
Pope Benedict XVI appealed Sunday for the release of the priests who were ambushed, dragged out of their car and seized on their way home from a funeral. The pope asked the kidnappers to "let the two religious men go" during his traditional Sunday blessing in St. Peter's Square.
The Christian community in Iraq is about 3 percent of the country's estimated 26 million people.