This is good news, thank God. He’s believed held by ISIS and maybe al-Qaeda. The Indian government says they’re negotiating for his release, while likely means money. This is the horrible choice: do we save people by giving money to terrorists who will then use that money to terrorize and murder more people?
A Catholic priest widely reported to have been crucified on Good Friday by Islamist terrorists in Yemen is alive, and efforts to negotiate his release are underway, an Indian government official said Sunday.
Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who was abducted by terrorists who slaughtered four nuns and 12 others at a retirement home in Aden March 4, was feared dead after an Austrian archbishop told congregants he had been executed on Good Friday. Although that priest, Archbishop of Vienna Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, later backtracked, much of the world feared for Uzhunnalil.
On Sunday, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told a delegation of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India that not only is Uzhunnalil alive, but that his release could be imminent, according to Press Trust of India.
“Father Tom is safe and efforts are on for his release as early as possible,” said Father Gyanprakash Topno, who was present at the briefing.
Swaraj told the bishops the Indian “government will facilitate the priest’s safe return to India,” but did not divulge any other details.
Uzhunnalil, who is from India’s southern state of Kerala, is believed to have been abducted by ISIS and is being held at an unknown location. But Al Qaeda, as well as other terrorist groups, is active in Yemen, and it has not been confirmed who was behind the shocking attack.
The victims worked at a home run by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.
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