Tag: Aden

‘I have witnessed the power of prayer’ – priest held captive for 18 months in Yemen

November 9, 2018 Yemen Aden, Kidnapping, Pope Francis, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

The Indian priest who was held hostage for 18 months in Yemen says his experiences taught him about “the power of prayer”. Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, who was abducted in March 2016 and freed in September 2017, told Catholic news agency ACI Prensa his ability to persevere during his captivity was . . . Read More

Father Tom releases book about 18 months’ captivity in Yemen

February 7, 2018 Yemen Aden, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Ansar al-Sharia, Catholics, Hodeidah, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Sana'a, Taiz, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

The Indian priest who spent 18 months in captivity in Yemen has released an autobiography. Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, who was freed in September 2017, has titled the book ‘By the Grace of God’. The priest, who is 58, presented his book during a meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of . . . Read More

Fr Tom: my faith got me through 18 months’ captivity

September 14, 2017 Yemen Aden, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Ansar al-Sharia, Hodeidah, Islamic State, Pope Francis, Sana'a, Taiz, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

The Indian missionary priest released this week after 18 months as a hostage in Yemen has said his Christian faith helped him to survive the ordeal. Fr Tom Uzhunnalil, a priest in the Salesian order, met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday, the day after his release. The priest . . . Read More

Indian priest released after 18 months’ captivity in Yemen

September 12, 2017 Yemen Aden, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Ansar al-Sharia, Hodeidah, Islamic State, Middle East, Sana'a, Taiz, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

India’s Church, government and politicians from across the political landscape have all expressed relief and joy over the release of Salesian Father Tom Uzhunnalil, kidnapped in Yemen in March 2016. Statements hailing the release of the Indian priest have poured in – from India’s foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, to the . . . Read More

Church relieved as Yemen confirms kidnapped Indian priest is ‘alive’

July 14, 2017 Yemen Aden, Catholics, Islamic State, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

The Church in India, especially in the southern state of Kerala, is breathing a sign of relief after Yemen confirmed to India’s foreign minister that Catholic missionary Father Tom Uzhunnalil, kidnapped in Yemen in March 2016, is “alive”. “We are thrilled to hear that good news,” Cardinal George Alencherry, Major . . . Read More

Priest kidnapped in Yemen appeals for help in new video

May 11, 2017 Yemen Aden, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

The Catholic priest held captive for 14 months has appeared in a new video pleading for the international community to secure his release. Fr Tom Uzhunnalil, a Salesian priest who was taken captive in a raid on a care home in the Yemeni capital Aden, looks frail in the short . . . Read More

How easy is it to live as a Christian in the Arabian Peninsula?

February 20, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Aden, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tom Uzhunnalil, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman.World Watch Monitor There are currently hundreds of thousands of Christians living and worshipping in the Arabian Peninsula. Millions of labourers from predominantly poor Asian and African countries – many of them Christians – work long-term in the region. Most of the migrants . . . Read More

Criticised for not securing release of kidnapped priest in Yemen, Indian government says it ‘told him not to go’

January 9, 2017 Yemen Aden, Catholics, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

Fr Tom UzhunnalilArchdiocese of Bombay India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come under fire from his political opponents for his failure to secure the release of an Indian Catholic priest kidnapped 10 months ago in Yemen by Islamic extremists. Now Modi’s Deputy Foreign Minister, M. J. Akbar, has said the . . . Read More

Priest’s crucifixion rumours false, says India’s Foreign Minister

April 4, 2016 Yemen Aden, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Tom Uzhunnalil, Yemen

Mathew Uzhunnalil, left, the older brother of kidnapped priest Thomas Uzhunnallil, talks with their cousin, V.A. Thomas, in the family home in Kerala state, India.World Watch Monitor UPDATE (4 April) India’s government has said rumours that a kidnapped Catholic priest was crucified on Good Friday are false, and promised . . . Read More

Gunmen kill 4 nuns and 12 others in Yemen

March 7, 2016 Yemen Aden, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Ansar al-Sharia, Hodeidah, Houthis, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Sana'a, Taiz, Tom Uzhunnalil

Four Catholic nuns from the late Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity were among 16 victims killed by six unidentified gunmen at a home for the elderly in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden. The four missionary nurses were serving breakfast to the home’s 80 residents on 4 March when armed . . . Read More

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