Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, Keralite Catholic priest who was recently freed from the captivity of Yemen terrorists, has been named as this year’s recipient of the Mother Theresa Award for Social Justice. The priest is expected to receive the award from the Harmony Foundation, a Mumbai based group. The Mother Theresa Memorial Awards for Social Justice is the only award in the world bearing St. Mother Theresa’s name and is endorsed by Sr. Mary Prema, the second successor of St. Mother Theresa, who founded the Missionaries of Charity.
As reported by ucanindia.in, Abraham Mathayi, the founder of the Harmony Foundation, remarked that “Fr. Uzhunnalil had the option of leaving Yemen in 2015 but he chose to stay and provide humanitarian aid in the midst of such terror.” Further, he added, “The award recognizes his dedication and commitment towards working in a place of great danger where his colleagues were murdered in cold blood.”
Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil was released on September 12, 2017, after 18 months of captivity in Yemen, where a civil war between government forces and Houthi rebels have killed more than 8500 people since 2015, as per UN report.
