Indian Government rules out rumors about crucifixion priest Father Thomas Uzhunnalil.

Indian Government rules out rumors about crucifixion priest Father Thomas Uzhunnalil. (ucanindia).

The Indian government has ruled out crucifixion rumors about a Catholic priest abducted in Yemen early March and said hectic efforts are on to secure his freedom.

The release of Father Thomas Uzhunnalil is “imminent,” said Father Joseph Chinnayan, deputy secretary general of the national bishops’ conference after meeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Saturday evening.

Swaraj has assured the Church delegation that Father Uzhunnalil is “safe” and that the government was adopting “all possible means for the quick and safe release” of the priest, Father Chinnayan said.

Father Uzhunnalil, a Salesain priest of Bangalore province, was taken away on March 4 by suspected Islamic terrorist after they attacked a home for the aged in Aden run by Missionaries of Charity nuns, and gunned down 16 people.

Church officials last week requested government’s help to establish the “real fate” of the abducted priest after rumors spread in the media that terrorists have tortured and crucified the priest on Good Friday.

Captors of Catholic priest Father Thomas Uzhunnalil have sent a video to the Indian government demanding millions of dollars in ransom, sources said on Tuesday.

The video showed Father Thomas, a Salesian priest, asking for help with a man standing behind him. However, there is no confirmation on whether Father Thomas Uzhunnalil is now dead or alive.

However, the church authorities said that they have no knowledge of the ransom video. 

The central government has reportedly received vital information from its Yemeni counterpart on the involvement of an ISIS affiliate group in the incident.

Even if the Central Government had received such demands from abductors, we assume that the former would not reveal the details as it would affect the efforts to secure his release, the church authorities said.

“We are pinning hopes on the central government’s positive approach to the issue. We strongly condemn the efforts on part of political parties to communalise such an unfortunate incident,” they added.

Father Chinnayan said the government refused to “divulge the details of the negotiations and the technicalities” as it would endanger the ongoing process.

However, she shared with the delegation “the strenuous effort” her ministry has taken to ensure a safe passage for Sister Rema, the only surviving nun in the Aden attack.

The Church delegation thanked the government on behalf of the “whole Church in India” for the various steps taken to rescue Father Uzhunnalil. Hmmmm.....It seems the Christian community pays ransoms to ISIS to get their flock members back. 

There is no confirmation that ISIS carried out Good Friday crucifixion of Catholic priest Tom Uzhunnalilin

Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil. Credit ANS (Agenzia Notizie Salesiane) Salesian News Agency

There is no confirmation that ISIS carried out Good Friday crucifixion of Catholic priest Tom Uzhunnalil in Yemen.(Catholicnewsagency).

Reports claiming that a kidnapped priest in Yemen was crucified over the weekend are likely false and irresponsible, the local bishop told CNA Monday.

Several blogs and media outlets are reporting that Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil was crucified by ISIS on Good Friday. However, there has been no confirmation of the event by friends, family or Fr. Uzhunnalil’s community.

The original reports were based on a statement Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna allegedly made during Easter vigil services.

On March 4, four gunmen attacked a Missionaries of Charity-run retirement home in Aden, Yemen, killing 16 people including four Missionary of Charity sisters. Fr. Uzhunnalil was kidnapped by the gunman during the attacks, which are thought to have been perpetrated by Islamic terrorists, though no specific group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

Bishop Paul Hinder of Southern Arabia (whose apostolic vicariate serves Catholics in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen) told CNA on Monday that he has "strong indications that Fr. Tom is still alive in the hands of the kidnappers," but could not give further information in order to protect the life of the priest.

Bishop Hinder added that Cardinal Schönborn has since corrected his alleged statement, which was made on the basis of an incorrect statement from Archbishop Moras in Bangalore.


“Cardinal Schönborn has already corrected his statement which he had made on the basis of the wrong statement of Archbishop Moras in Bangalore. Certain media in India are too nervous and curious and not aware that they are playing with the life of Fr. Tom. I cannot say more for the reason I gave in my first sentence (to protect the life of Fr. Tom),” Bishop Hinder told CNA.

Rumors of a possible impending crucifixion spread last week on the basis of an unconfirmed e-mail and were dismissed by Fr. Uzhunnalil’s Salesian community as hearsay.

“We have absolutely no information” on Fr. Uzhunnalil, said Father Mathew Valarkot, spokesman for the Salesians’ Bangalore province to which the kidnapped priest belongs.

His comments were reported last week by both by ANS news, a Salesian news agency, and UCA News, an independent Catholic news source in Asia. More here and here.

ISIS fighters 'crucify' 17-year-old boy in Syria.

ISIS fighters 'crucify' 17-year-old boy in Syria. (TOI).

ISIS fighters have reportedly executed a 17-year-old boy and left his body on display on a cross in Syria.

Pictures being shared online show a banner attached to the teenager's chest saying the boy has been crucified for taking photos of ISIS military bases, as well as receiving "500 Turkish lira" for any footage taken.

The message describes the ruling for the alleged crime as "apostasy" and states the teenager has been "killed and crucified for a period of three days" as the punishment.

The alleged execution comes after it emerged ISIS militants had beheaded their own fighters for spying and espionage.

It is not known who took the picture, which was circulated across social media by some ISIS supporters on Friday.

Charlie Winter, Programs Officer at counter-extremism think tank the Quilliam Foundation, said crucifixion is a prescribed punishment meted out by Isis for specific crimes.

He told The Independent: "Crucifixion has been used many times before - it's an age-old punishment dealt out to people who have committed treason."

He said this punishment arises from Isis's fundamentalist interpretation of Verse 33 of the fifth book of the Koran, which reads: 

"Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth (to cause) corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land.

"That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment."

However, he said the next very next verse emphasizes forgiveness and removes the imperative to use such a punishment, saying: "Except for those who return (repenting) before you apprehend them. And know that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."

Winter said the apostasy ruling suggested a fusion of theological and statutory terms.

The recent killing follows a series of executions in Raqqa in May believed to have been committed by ISIS militants, where bodies were left suspended on wooden crosses for two days.

In March, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Isis crucified a man for "purposefully killing a Muslim to take his money". More here from Daily Mail.

Saudi death-row inmates repatriated to Indonesia

Saudi death-row inmates repatriated to Indonesia.(BM).CAIRO: Twenty-two death row Indonesian inmates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been exonerated and repatriated back to Indonesia, while 25 maids are still facing death sentences in Saudi Arabia for various offenses. “Jakarta will be sending a 14-member presidential task force to the Kingdom on April 7 to talk to Saudi officials and to intensify efforts in cooperation with its embassy to rescue the maids,” said Hendrar Pramutyo, spokesman of the Indonesian embassy in Riyadh, on Thursday.
Pramutyo said: “Six housemaids are on death row in Riyadh province alone, whereas about 19 female workers have been handed death sentences in the Western region. We will be attending a court hearing in Dammam next week.” He added many other workers may not be so fortunate. However, the embassy as well as the Jeddah-based consulate are working hard to secure pardons for the workers, he added. Such problems are limited to a few countries, he noted. According to a report published in Indonesian newspaper The Presidential Post, a total of 167 Indonesian nationals are on death row, and 11 others had also been sentenced to death in different countries including Saudi Arabia recently.
Most Indonesian nationals sentenced to death had committed either serious criminal offenses or implicated on baseless grounds. Some 117 are in death row in Malaysia, 20 in China, 25 in Saudi Arabia, and two in Singapore. They can always be acquitted if these countries find them not guilty or a royal pardon is granted, said Pramutyo. The preferred method of execution in Saudi Arabia is a public beheading by sword, followed by crucifixion.At least 158 people, including 76 foreign nationals, were executed by the Saudi Arabian authorities in 2007. In 2008 some 102 people, including almost 40 foreign nationals, were executed. In 2009, at least 69 people are known to have been executed, including 19 foreign nationals and in 2010, at least 27 people were executed including six foreign nationals.Some 78 people were executed in 2011 in Saudi Arabia.The record number of beheadings in one year in Saudi Arabia was 191 in 1995.On December 18, 2008 and December 21st, 2010, Saudi Arabia voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly.Read the full story here.