Free Republic

In Trabzon, Turkey, along the Black Sea, today marks a year since the parish priest Don Andrea Santoro was murdered by a group of local youth. In the small church of Sancta Maria where Santoro -- a priest of Rome on loan to the small Catholic community -- was gunned down, a memorial Mass was held, celebrated by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the papal vicar for Rome, who traveled to Turkey with the late cleric's mother, sisters and uncle to commemorate the anniversary. Said Cardinal Ruini yesterday, "Santoro['s] death has greatly saddened us, but he was a gift to the...

A year ago, I blogged about a controversial, Pulitzer Prize-winning photo taken by an unidentified Associated Press stringer in Iraq. More background from the blogosphere here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. Do take the time to re-read them all. The context is important. One member of the Pulitzer-winning AP team was AP stringer Bilal Hussein. Hussein's photos have raised serious, persistent questions about his relationship with terrorists in Iraq and whether his photos were/are staged in collusion with the enemy. I've learned of an intriguing news development that strengthens those lingering suspicions. This afternoon, in response...

Gunmen in Iraq claim to have shot dead an Italian photographer they had taken hostage, reports say. A blindfolded body - purportedly that of 52-year-old Salvatore Santoro - was shown to a group of Iraqi journalists in the desert near the town of Ramadi. The militants who led the journalists to the body also showed them a passport and documents in Mr Santoro's name. Mr Santoro is believed to have been a resident of the UK. Officials in Rome and London cannot confirm the reports. Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said reports of Mr Santoro's killing should be treated...