MANILA, Philippines - The Columban Missionaries has asked the United States government to step in and help in the safe rescue of kidnapped Irish priest Michael Sinnott.
According to CBCPNews, the official news service provider of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the Columban Missionaries sent a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hoping that the assistance of US President Barack Obama could pave the way for the release of the priest.
“We ask that all peaceful measures be taken to locate Fr. Sinnott and negotiate his release. We ask that you respond in all due haste, as Fr. Sinnott has a heart condition and is, as far as we know, without his medication,” part of the letter to Clinton read.
The mission also sent the same letter to Philippine Ambassador to the US Willy Gaa.
The Irish priest has been living in the Philippines for 40 years and has been actively helping a school for children and young adults with special needs in Pagadian City.
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, in an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas, appealed to Sinnott’s abductors to set him free.
“Fr. Sinnot is not a bad person. His only intention is to bring people closer to God. He is already 79 years old and would not do any harm. I do not know what kind of minds these people who abducted him have,” Rosales said.
The Manila Archbishop said old members of the Catholic Church should not be taken forcibly and that the kidnappers should seriously think of the consequences of their actions.
“He is already an old man and he has not been involved in any anomaly nor cheated anyone,” he said.
Rosales is wondering what the purpose of the abduction is and urged the military to immediately work for his safe release.
The CBCPNews said foreign and local missionaries have a history of being targeted by Islamic militants in Mindanao.
In 1998, priest Luciano Benedetti was seized by gunmen but was freed 10 weeks later. Another Italian missionary, Giuseppe Peirantoni, was abducted by armed men in 2000. He escaped six months later.
Others were not as lucky.
Filipino priest Rhoel Gallardo was kidnapped by al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants along with 50 school children on Basilan island in 2000.
The children were rescued but Gallardo was tortured and killed.
In 2007, gunmen abducted Italian missionary Fr Giancarlo Bossi from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions. He was freed more than a month later.
MILF told to take active role
Meanwhile, leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who have been to Dublin, Ireland this year should take an active role in securing the safe release of Sinnott, according to senior officials of Task Force Sinnott.
The officials made this challenge in the wake of persistent reports that a group of MILF renegades were behind the abduction of the Irish priest.
“We know that they were in Dublin, Ireland middle of this year and were accommodated warmly there,” said one senior Task Force official.
Heading the MILF delegation to Ireland to explore ways to adopt the forged IRA-UK peace pact in their Mindanao peace agenda were Al Haj Murad, Mohagher Iqbal, Michael Mastura and Eid Kabalu.
“Since Fr. Sinnot is Irish, it’s about time for the MILF leadership to return the favor,” the Task Force Sinnott officer said.
“If indeed their wayward forces were behind Fr. Sinnott’s abduction, the MILF leadership should take steps to immediately secure the safe release of Fr. Sinnott,” he said, adding that if the MILF forces were not behind the abduction, they can also exert pressure on the kidnappers to release the priest.
Kabalu has already denied that their fighters were behind the abduction. Persistent intelligence reports, however, showed that Sinnott is now in the custody of an armed group closely identified with the MILF operating in the Zamboanga Peninsula as well as those based in the two Lanao provinces.
At the time of his abduction, Sinnott was suffering from a major heart ailment and was on maintenance medicine since he had open heart surgery in Cebu in 2005.
As of yesterday, no official line of communication has been established between the kidnappers and the Columban community or with the Local Government Management Crisis Committee chaired by Gov. Aurora Cerilles of Zamboanga del Sur. – With Evelyn Macairan