Sinnott takes vacation in Ireland

MANILA, Philippines - Irish priest Michael Sinnott, who was kidnapped and held captive by armed men for 31 days in Pagadian City, left the country early yesterday morning to take a five-week vacation in his native Ireland.

The CBCPNews of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) reported that Fr. Sinnott, 79, boarded Etihad flight EY 421 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at around 1:05 a.m. yesterday.

He would be back in the Philippines on Jan. 15 and return to Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur. He will celebrate his 80th birthday next week.

“I feel fine going back home and looking forward to the weather. It’s windy, wet and cold,” Sinnott said.

“I wish my friends in Pagadian will have peace and no more kidnapping. I hope the Filipino people and the Catholic Church in the Philippines will be able to obtain peace in Mindanao without any bloodshed. We hope the elections will be successful and we’ll have an honest president,” he said for his Christmas wish for the country.

He said he expects his relatives back home to ask him about his experience being a kidnap victim and hopes to share stories about his mission in Mindanao.

Fr. Patrick O’Donoghue, regional director of the Missionary Society of St. Columban, accompanied Fr. Sinnott.

An unidentified armed group abducted Sinnott from his convent in Pagadian City last Oct. 11. He was released in the early morning of Nov. 12.

Several governments assisted in negotiations for Sinnott’s release, prompting local officials to refer to them as the “coalition of the compassionate.”  – Evelyn Macairan