(24 Feb 10 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI says he is pained by the ongoing killings of Christians
in Iraq. The Holy Father who is engaged this week in spiritual exercises along
with his collaborators of the Roman Curia, was informed of a spate murders in the
central Iraqi city of Mosul. The most recent occurred yesterday with the murder
of three members of a Syro-Catholic family. Their funerals took place today. Syrian
Catholic Archbishop Basil George Casmoussa of Mosul celebrated the funeral rites for
the victims.He told us the killings betray a new and alarming brazenness among the
violent anti-Christian elements in society…