Baghdad (AsiaNews) – Another Chaldean priest was abducted in Baghdad today. Fr Hani Abdel Ahad, in his early 30s, was taken in a north-eastern section of the capital called Suleikh along with five boys who were going with him to visit the city’s minor seminar.

The incident has plunged the Christian community in a state of gloom. Some faithful have reacted to terrible news saying that they have “the impression that they are all alone, like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he felt abandoned by the Father.”

Unconfirmed rumours have raised the possibility that Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly might have already received a ransom note.

The head of the Chaldean Church is currently in Al-Qosh, a town in the northern part of the country, where he is participating in the last day of the patriarchal synod.

Father Hani’s abduction comes only three days after the assassination of a Chaldean priest, Fr Ragheed Ganni, and three subdeacons in Mosul.