(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…
