BBC: Gunmen have kidnapped the archbishop of the Chaldean Catholic Church in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and killed three of his aides, his church says.
Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho was seized as he left a church in the eastern al-Nour district, it added.
Pope Benedict XVI deplored the kidnapping as a "despicable" crime.
Most of Iraq's estimated 700,000 Christians are Chaldeans - Catholics who are autonomous from Rome but recognise the Pope's authority.
Many have been targeted since the 2004 invasion by Sunni extremists groups.
In January, bombs exploded outside three Chaldean and Assyrian churches in Mosul. Several Christian priests have also been kidnapped or killed during the past five years. 'Fervent prayer' >>>
BBC:
Who Are the Chaldean Christians?
Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)
