NEW DELHI/KOTTAYAM: The Archbishop of Vienna has claimed, according to Daily Mail, that Fr Thomas Uzhunnalil, 56, hailing from Pala, was crucified by IS terrorists on Good Friday, but Abu Dhabi archbishop Paul Hinder denied it and the Ministry of External Affairs says it has no clue to the priest’s whereabouts.
ISIS-linked terrorists in Yemen kidnapped the priest during an attack an old people's home run by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in Aden, southern Yemen, that killed at least 15 people, on March 4.
Several religious groups had received threats that Fr Tom would be crucified on Good Friday. The Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, told a congregation gathered at St. Stephen's Cathedral in the Austrian capital of Vienna that the priest had been crucified.
A spokesperson for the cardinal, however, later admitted that while he did say that the priest had been crucified, he had no confirmation of Fr Tom's fate, Daily Mail reports. 'The cardinal based his statements on news published on Arabic language web sites. Government sources in Delhi said there was "no verifiable information" about the fate of the priest.
Four foreign nuns, including an Indian, working as nurses were among those killed in the March 4 raid. In Kottayam, the priest’s kin at Vadakkumbhagom near Ramapuram have not received any news about him.
The priest’s elder brother U.V. Mathew said that even the Salesian congregation to which Fr. Tom belonged had no information. “The Ministry of External Affairs has not revealed anything to us,” he said. Mr Noyal Mathew, Fr Tom’s first cousin, working at the External Affairs Ministry, is coordinating the investigations into the whereabouts of the priest. Mr Shajan Thomas, another cousin of the priest, told DC that many from the country and outside were calling them. The government must take measures to speed up the negotiations to bring him back safely,” Mr Shajan told DC.Fr Tom had gone to Yemen in 2010 inspired by the late Fr. U.V. Mathew, his uncle who worked as a Salesian priest for 15 years in Yemen. Fr Tom visited Ramapuram in September 2014 for the funeral of his mother and stayed here for at least two months.
