Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Italian Priest Abducted in Philippines
Guardian ^ | June 10, 2007 | TERESA CEROJANO

Posted on 06/11/2007 8:28:16 AM PDT by NYer

MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Gunmen abducted an Italian Roman Catholic priest who was on his way to a remote village to celebrate Sunday Mass in the southern Philippines, police said.

Giancarlo Bossi, 57, was riding his motorcycle in Zamboanga Sibugay province's Payao township, about 500 miles south of Manila, when about 10 armed men blocked his path then seized him, said Senior Superintendent Francisco Cristobal, the provincial police chief.

Cristobal said he suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels who operate in Zamboanga Sibugay, despite a cease-fire agreement with the government. He did not elaborate, but said that al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, notorious for ransom kidnappings, are not known to be active in the area.

Cristobal said police received reports that the group boarded two boats, possibly to flee to nearby islands. Police and the military were searching for the priest with land and coastal patrols, he added.

Mohagher Iqbal, a peace negotiator for the rebel group, denied Moro militants were behind the abduction.

Hours after the kidnapping, Pope Benedict XVI condemned the abductions of priests and others around the world and said he was praying for all those who were being held hostage.

``I direct my appeal to the authors of these abominable acts, so that they realize the wrong they have done and quickly return their prisoners to their loved ones,'' Benedict said.

Bossi was assigned as parish priest of Payao in April and is a member of the Pontificio Instituto Missioni Estere, Cristobal said. Sundalo Jianni, an official from the mission, appealed to Bossi's abductors to free him.

``Father Bossi is a good man and there is no reason to hold him against his will,'' he told the local Mindanao Examiner newspaper.

(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abusayaff; abusayeff; antichristian; catholic; islam; islamicimperialism; islamicsupremacists; muhammadsminions; muslim; philippines; phillipines; waronislamism; whywefight; zamboanga

1 posted on 06/11/2007 8:28:18 AM PDT by NYer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Lady In Blue; Salvation; narses; SMEDLEYBUTLER; redhead; Notwithstanding; nickcarraway; Romulus; ...
Catholic Ping
Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list


2 posted on 06/11/2007 8:29:05 AM PDT by NYer ("Where the bishop is present, there is the Catholic Church" - Ignatius of Antioch)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NYer

Most likely the Moros.


3 posted on 06/11/2007 8:33:04 AM PDT by Pyro7480 ("Jesu, Jesu, Jesu, esto mihi Jesus" -St. Ralph Sherwin's last words at Tyburn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Pyro7480; NYer
“Most likely the Moros.”

Could be yes, could be no.

KnR - Kidnap and ransom is practiced around the more corrupt parts of the world. That the Church is a victim will spawn a lot of sympathy from Filipinos. The crime is the target of law and order. Filipinos will be motivated to stop the crime whether Moro or not. The action was criminal perpetuated by criminals. Whether the criminal(s) is/are Moro is yet to be discovered.

The hunt is on.

4 posted on 06/11/2007 8:39:56 AM PDT by SaltyJoe ("Social Justice" for the Unborn Child)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: NYer
I didn’t know that those maniacal Norwegians has made their way to the Philippines.
5 posted on 06/11/2007 8:40:07 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative ("The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism."-Karl Marx)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SaltyJoe

Zamboango has been known for these type of acts for at least 15 years, maybe more.


6 posted on 06/11/2007 8:43:09 AM PDT by Safetgiver (Hazelton...doing the job the American Government refuses to do.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: NYer

It is just because Westerners won’t leave muslim lands. Like the Phillipines. < /sarcasm >


7 posted on 06/11/2007 8:52:12 AM PDT by weegee (Libs want us to learn to live with terrorism, but if a gun is used they want to rewrite the Const.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NYer
500 miles from Manila.

I know I'm being picky ... but that's like describing Raleigh North Carolina as 500 miles from Richmond, Virginia.

Zamboanga is on the southwestern most tip of Mindinao ... a really ... really ... really fer piece from Manila... and on a different island altogether.

It's largely muslem and a playground for Abu Sayeff and MILF. Kidnappings are commonplace and most of the folks that don't want to be kidnapped stay away.

Prayers for the priest ..... but he knew this was going to be a difficult assignment.

8 posted on 06/11/2007 9:45:37 AM PDT by Fighting Irish ("For those who had a notion, a notion deep inside, that it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NYer

Prayers for Father Bossi.


9 posted on 06/11/2007 12:26:48 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Canticle_of_Deborah; vox_freedom; All

People I love are in Philippines. Please pray for my niece who joined the Peace Corps [sigh] and is in Philippines, Fr. Pfeiffer, this poor priest and all the others. This scares me.


10 posted on 06/11/2007 8:40:08 PM PDT by murphE (These are days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed but his own. --G.K. Chesterton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: murphE
Catholics are being attacked all over the world, for their beliefs and what they represent -- Christ. Philippines, Spain, Iraq, Russia, South America, Cuba, China, etc., etc. We need to pray for those who are in peril, especially those who put themselves forward on behalf of the Faith, including good priests such as the priest just kidnapped, and Fr. Pfeiffer and those who they lead.

We live in a time that dying on behalf of our Faith is more and more commonplace. The priest and three sub-deacons were murdered in Iraq are but recent examples of what could be termed "the new martyrdom."

From Rorate Caeli:

Catholic Martyrs of the "New Iraq"
With “a heart full of bitterness and mourning”, the Chaldean Church is today lamenting its martyrs. This is how, in a joint statement the Chaldean Patriarch and his bishops remember Fr Ragheed Ganni and his three sub-deacons - Basman Yousef Daud, Wahid Hanna Isho, Gassan Isam Bidawed – murdered in cold blood yesterday, as they left the Parish Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul after Sunday Mass. This afternoon at 1500 (local time) their funerals will be held in Karamles, Fr. Ragheed’s home town, celebrated by Msgr. Faraj Rahho, bishop of Mosul.

http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/

11 posted on 06/12/2007 6:37:24 AM PDT by vox_freedom (John 16:2 yea, the hour come, that whosoever killeth you, will think that he doth a service to God)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: NYer
Whether it is the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or not, remains to be seen.
This is a practice, in that area, that is not restricted to the MILF.

Especially in Mindanoa, this is not restricted to any large organized group.

While I plan on retiring to the Philippines, my hope is that by the time I move there, the major portion of the strife will be done.

I will, however, have a large portion of my neighbors watching my back.

12 posted on 06/12/2007 6:45:53 AM PDT by Just another Joe (Warning: FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: murphE

Scary times murph.


13 posted on 06/13/2007 11:52:12 PM PDT by Canticle_of_Deborah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Just another Joe

I plan on retiring in Mindinao as well ... and hope and pray all this gets resolved soon


14 posted on 06/18/2007 7:40:28 AM PDT by Fighting Irish ("A seminar on time travel will be held in two weeks ago")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: NYer

bump


15 posted on 06/18/2007 7:51:35 AM PDT by VOA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson