Priest kidnapped in YEMEN FREED After 18 months

NEW DELHI — An Indian Catholic priest kidnapped by militants from a home for senior citizens in Yemen has been rescued after 18 months, an Indian official said Tuesday.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Twitter that Tom Uzhunnalil had been rescued, saying later Tuesday that he had reached Vatican City. He is expected to meet Pope Francis.

Uzhunnalil had worked for more than four years as a chaplain at the home in Aden in southern Yemen established by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.

He was abducted by militants in March 2016 when they attacked the home, killing 16 people, including four nuns.

The Hindustan Times newspaper said the priest was flown from Yemen to Muscat, the capital of Oman, after his release.

“Our prayers were finally heard. We thank all who stood with us in trying times,” the newspaper quoted the priest’s older brother, Mathew, as saying.

Earlier, Oman’s official news agency ONA said Oman had managed to find Uzhunnalil and that he had been moved to Muscat, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.