Brownsville, Texas ? A Roman Catholic priest urged mourners Wednesday at the funeral of a Texas soldier who was captured and mutilated in Iraq to avoid “unholy rage” and work for peace to honor his memory.

Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, was one of two 101st Airborne Division soldiers whose booby-trapped remains were found June 19, three days after they disappeared following an insurgent attack.

Diocese of Brownsville Bishop Raymundo Pena spoke of Menchaca’s valor and sacrifice.

“News reports about the circumstances of Kris’ death in Iraq could lead us to an unholy rage and anger, but that would only dishonor Kristian’s very name and Kristian himself,” Pena said.

“We must, as he did, reach for the ideal: to work for peace and an end to conflict wherever we may find it,” he added.

Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed it killed Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas Tucker of Madras, Ore., saying the successor to slain leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had “slaughtered” them, according to a Web statement that could not be authenticated. A third soldier, Spc. David J. Babineau of Springfield, Mass., died in the attack.

Local residents carrying U.S. flags lined the route of the funeral procession Wednesday, and workers emerged from area businesses, some in fast food uniforms or nursing scrubs, to join them.

Menchaca was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and a Prisoner of War medal.