Father Tom Uzhunnalil Archives

Cardinal Gracias: Curial reform is nearing the ‘end of the tunnel’
- Catholic News Agency, Interviews, Vatican
- September 19, 2017
Cardinal Oswald Gracias, a member of the Council of Cardinals tasked with reforming the Vatican bureaucracy, says that more than anything, there is a change in mentality that’s needed, which will take longer than simply reforming the Vatican’s structures, he said, but said the group is “rather confident that it will happen because the pope is giving very effective leadership.”
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Indian priest says Yemeni captors did him no physical harm
- Associated Press, Global Church
- September 16, 2017
Father Tom Uzhunnalil,a Salesian, was kidnapped from a home for senior citizens in Aden, southern Yemen, established by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in March 2016. Four nuns were killed during the attack. On Saturday in Rome, following his release earlier this week, Uzhunnalil said that his captors never harmed him, even if in some videos they made it appear that way in an effort to get a speedy response in negotiations.
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Pope Francis meets with Indian priest kidnapped by Islamic militants in Yemen
- Vatican
- September 13, 2017
Father Tom Uzhunnalil – a missionary priest kidnapped in Yemen on March 4, 2016, at a home for the elderly in the southern port city of Aden where he served as a chaplain – met with Pope Francis on Wednesday in the Vatican, a day after his release.
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Report: Priest kidnapped in Yemen in 2016 has been released

India’s Foreign Minister tweeted out on Tuesday that Father Tom Uzhunnalil, a missionary priest kidnapped by Islamic militants in Yemen in September 2016 at a home for the elderly in the southern port city of Aden, has been released. According to reports, Uzhunnalil is presently in Oman, and will be flown back to Kerala in India later on Tuesday.

Indian foreign minister: Priest kidnapped in Yemen could be freed soon

India’s Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, has told a delegation from his Salesian religious order that a Catholic priest kidnapped in Yemen last year is alive and could be released soon, according to a report from an Indian news agency. Minister Sushma Swaraj also reportedly told the group that securing his freedom is among the highest priorities of the Indian government.

Yemen’s foreign minister says kidnapped Salesian is still alive

Father Thomas Uzhunnalil was kidnapped March 4, 2016, after suspected Islamic terrorists stormed a home for elderly people managed by the Missionaries of Charity nuns in the port city of Aden. The assailants shot dead 16 people, including four nuns, before kidnapping the priest, who served as chaplain of the house.