{"id":1389,"date":"2016-04-02T22:58:57","date_gmt":"2016-04-03T02:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/?p=1389"},"modified":"2016-04-02T22:58:57","modified_gmt":"2016-04-03T02:58:57","slug":"catholic-priest-abducted-in-yemen-safe-indian-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/?p=1389","title":{"rendered":"Catholic priest abducted in Yemen safe: Indian minister"},"content":{"rendered":"
Published on: 10:37 pm, April 2, 2016<\/span><\/a> Story By: Matters India Reporter<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
\"CBCI<\/p>\n
CBCI delegation with the minister<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

New Delhi: The Salesian priest abducted in Yemen is safe and delicate negotiations are on to get him released from Islamic militants, India\u2019s External Affairs Minister told a Church delegation.<\/p>\n

The minister, Sushma Swaraj, dismissed as \u201ctotally baseless\u201d the rumors about harm done to Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil.<\/p>\n

A five-member delegation from the Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference of India (CBCI) met the minister at her office Saturday evening and discussed all matters related to the release of Fr Uzhunnalil.<\/p>\n

The 57-year-old Indian priest was abducted by suspected IS militants from Aden, Yemen\u2019s southern port city, on March 4. The militants also gunned down 16 people who worked in a home for elderly managed by the Missionaries of Charity. Four of the victims were nuns, one from India.<\/p>\n

The delegation expressed the Indian Church\u2019s \u201cdeep concern and distress\u201d over the fate of Fr. Uzhunnal, whose whereabouts are not known even after 29 days, says a CBCI press statement.<\/p>\n

The delegation led by CBCI deputy secretary general Monsignor Joseph Chinnayyan requested the minister to clear the mystery over the priest\u2019s abduction and share the truth about his current status, especially in view of rumors being spread at home and abroad.<\/p>\n

News reports on March 28 quoted Austrian media to say that the priest\u2019s abductors had crucified him on Good Friday.<\/p>\n

Swaraj categorically assured the delegation that Fr. Uzhunnalil is safe and that the government is adopting all possible means for his quick and safe release. The minister further said the government cannot divulge the details of the negotiations and the technicalities involved as it would endanger the process of release itself.<\/p>\n

She also shared with the delegation her ministry\u2019s \u201cstrenuous efforts\u201d to procure a safe passage for Sr. Rema, the nun who survived the March 4 attack in Yemen.<\/p>\n

The delegation conveyed to the minister the Indian Church\u2019s appreciation for her as well as the Indian government\u2019s various efforts to trace and rescue Fr. Uzhunnalil.<\/p>\n

Other members in the delegation were CBCI spokesperson Fr. Gyanprakash Topno; Caritas India Executive Director Fr. Frederick D\u2019Souza; CBCI Secretary for Education Salesian Father Joseph Manipadam, and the secretary for CBCI Legal Matters, Advocate Jose Abraham.<\/p>\n

\u00a0http:\/\/mattersindia.com\/2016\/04\/catholic-priest-abducted-in-yemen-safe-indian-minister\/<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Published on: 10:37 pm, April 2, 2016 Story By: Matters India Reporter CBCI delegation with the minister New Delhi: The Salesian priest abducted in Yemen is safe and delicate negotiations are on to get him released from Islamic militants, India\u2019s External Affairs Minister told a Church delegation. The minister, Sushma Swaraj, dismissed as \u201ctotally baseless\u201d … Continue reading Catholic priest abducted in Yemen safe: Indian minister<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1389"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1390,"href":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389\/revisions\/1390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.free-rosary.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}