Church ‘working’ to secure release of abducted priest

abu dhabi — The Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia said it has got ‘strong indications’ to believe that the Indian priest abducted in Yemen, Father Tom Uzhunnalil, is alive.

The church said it is making ‘all efforts to secure a safe release’ of the priest kidnapped from Aden in March. A video of Uzhunnalil had surfaced this week in which he made an appeal to the Indian government, Pope Francis and Bishop Paul Hinder, to save his life. Hinder, who is based in Abu Dhabi, is the current Vicar Apostolic of the vicariate.

“The features of the person speaking in the video bear a close likeness to Father Tom. However, the source of the video, the date of its creation and the circumstances under which it was recorded are unknown. Even though we have no information about Father Tom’s present whereabouts, we have strong indications to believe that he is still alive,” the vicariate said in a statement.

The church said it has made countless appeals from the highest levels to secure Uzhunnalil’s release as well as made concrete efforts by way of working in close collaboration with both international and local diplomatic channels.

“Paul Hinder is in touch with the different channels, which are working and leading the dialogues to secure a safe release. More details cannot be disclosed at this stage,” the statement said.

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com