In a video posted today, the Rector Major of the Salesians, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, appealed to the whole Salesian family for prayer for peace on Holy Thursday, with a special intention for Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, the Salesian kidnapped in Yemen.
The priest was taken during an attack March 4 on a home for the elderly run by the Missionaries of Charity. Four of the five sisters there were killed.
According to a report from the surviving nun, when Fr. Uzhunnalil heard the screaming, he ran directly to the chapel, in order to consume the Hosts so they couldn’t be defiled.
Looking at the suffering in so many parts of the world, “with so many people of different religions and confessions suffering a real martyrdom,” Fr. Artime invites everyone “to spend a time of very intense prayer on Holy Thursday evening, as we accompany Jesus in the pain and loneliness of Gethsemane.”
“I sincerely hope that all our Salesian family throughout the world and our young people will be united, in different places and at different times, in this one prayer for peace,” continues the video message.
Speaking on behalf of the whole Congregation, the Rector Major “expressed our closeness and our solidarity” with the family of Fr Uzhunnalil. While assuring them that he is monitoring closely the painful affair, he asks the Lord to give Fr Tom “a deep peace that he may live through the experience trusting in the Lord Jesus.”
The Rector Major’s Video is available in over 20 languages on YouTube on the ANSChannel.
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Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTAlksYA7Ac&index=2&list=PL6Ly5Pu2EbG5JkDFO90Yxwhu49NBIogZ4
