Bengaluru bishop leads efforts to trace priest abducted by ISIS

Bengaluru: The office of the Archbishop, Bengaluru is stepping up its efforts to put pressure from all quarters including Vatican and the Ministry of External Affairs to ascertain the whereabouts and well-being of Fr. Thomas Uzhunnalil. He was abducted by ISIS militants on March 4 and pictures of his purported coffin appeared on social media after he was allegedly crucified by Islamic State terrorists on Good Friday.

“Fr. Joseph Chinnayyan, Deputy Secretary General and Director of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) met with the Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday at her office where she has assured all possible efforts from the government's side to trace and locate the priest," said Fr. Edward, advisor to Archbishop Bernard Moras in Bengaluru.

"The bishop of Archdiocese of Bangalore is also in communication with the Vatican to facilitate tracing and locating the abducted priest with the help of members from the affiliated groups located in and around Levant region," added Fr. Edward.

"The bishop's office in Bengaluru worked on ascertaining the reliability of the source where the information about Fr. Tom's crucifixion on Good Friday. The subsequent picture of a coffin and the ransom amount claimed by the ISIS group in exchange for his release, all of which have seemed to have risen as a result of speculation running rife on social media. No official confirmation on any such information from reliable sources have been received as yet," said Fr. Edward.

Fr. Uzhunnalil's family members are also in constant touch with the bishop's office in Bengaluru and with the Kerala state government, Fr. Edward added. "The news about Fr. Tom's crucifixion on Good Friday originating from the Cardinal of Vienna was also not true. A section of media reports including a Telugu online portal had misquoted the Archbishop of Bengaluru in this unconfirmed information which went viral," said Fr. Edward.