Basile Georges Casmoussa
Basile Georges Casmoussa (born 25 October 1938) is the Syrian Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of the Syrian Catholic Archeparchy of Mosul, Iraq. Casmoussa was transferred to the Syriac Catholic Patriarchal Curia. He was, according to Vatican records, born in Qaraqosh, Iraq.
The Syriac Catholic Archeparchy of Mosul has 35,000 Syriac Catholics, 36 priests, and 55 religious.
On Tuesday, March 1, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI, gave his consent to the canonical election (made by the Synod of Bishops of the Patriarchal Syriac Catholic Church) of Father Boutros Moshe, until now the Protosyncellus (Vicar General) of the Archeparchy of Mosul, as the new Archbishop-elect of the Archeparchy of Mosul, succeeding Casmoussa.
Casmoussa was ordained as a priest in June 1962 and worked for three decades as the editor of Christian Source and was active in the International Union of the Catholic Press. He was appointed Archbishop of Mosul in May 1999, taking up the post in December, with a congregation of 35,000. Although many Iraqi Christians have left the country because of attacks following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Casmoussa chose to stay.
Casmoussa was kidnapped, reportedly by gunmen in Mosul, at the age of 66 on January 17, 2005. Although there were fears that this marked a new wave of attacks on Christians in Iraq, it appeared that the motive was principally for ransom, reportedly US$200,000. The kidnapping was widely condemned.
The Archbishop was freed one day later on January 18 with no ransom being paid.
Positions
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Cyrille Emmanuel Benni |
Archeparch of Mosul 1999 - 2010 |
Succeeded by Youhanna Boutros Moshe |
External links
- Interview with Catholic World News
- BBC history of Iraqi Christians
- Biography, from Catholic Hierarchy