No news on Indian priest, a year after abduction
March 08, 2017
A year after a Salesian missionary priest from India was kidnapped in Yemen, his religious superiors do not know where he is or who is holding him.
Father Thomas Uzhunnalil was taken captive last March 4 when Islamic militants attacked a rest home in Aden, operated by the Missionaries of Charity. Sixteen people, including four nuns, were killed in the raid; Father Uzuhunnalil was seized.
A video in which Father Uzhunnalil pleads for help was released late in December. The priest, who said that his health was deteriorating, criticized the government of India for failing to secure his release.
The government of India has sought to negotiate the release of the missionary priest, with no success to date. Cardinal Baselios Mar Cleemis of Trivandrum, the president of India’s episcopal conference, admitted that “we don’t know who kidnapped the priest and where they have taken him.”
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Further information:
- One year after abduction priest's fate remains unknown (UCAN)
- Kidnapped priest was warned not to visit Yemen, Indian government official says (CWN, 1/6)
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