The Bishops of the Syro Malabar Church came together with the faithful for an Eucharistic adoration for the speedy release of Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil at St. Mary’s Basilica, Eranakulam. Fr. Tom was abducted by gunmen in Yemen in early March 2016, when they raided a retirement home for the aged and disabled in Aden, Yemen.
In the inaugural speech, Mar George Cardinal Alencherry advocated the faithful to continue the prayers for the speedy release and conversion of the heart of the abductors. A prayer has been released to recite during the Holy Mass in all the Churches of the Syro Malabar rite till Fr. Tom gets released. Archbishop Mar George Njaralakatt lead the Bishops and faithful in prayer.
The attack on the old age home, run by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity nuns, by the gunmen caused the death of 16 missionaries and patients, which included two Rwandan nuns, one Indian nun, one Kenyan nun and 12 others. “We were informed of their deaths by the Apostolic Nuncio. We deeply regret their death but stay proud for their sacrifice that resulted in deaths. We consider them as martyrs and they are”, Bishop Smaragde Mbonyintege of the Diocese of Kabgayi, told The New Times of Rwanda. Let us pray for the departed souls and speedy recovery of Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil.
