(ANS – Bangalore, India –
January 9) – With conviction and serenity, with that calm faith that has marked his
public talks since he was set free, Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil through a short video
thanked the Salesians, the Salesian Family, and all the people who during the
18 months of his captivity in Yemen prayed and offered sacrifices for him. He
said, “I understand that if I was not hurt by my captors, if my mind was sane,
if I was tranquil, all these are the fruit of your prayers and your sacrifices.”
His message was recorded
and broadcast in the first days of January, almost a wish for the new year, to
signify the beginning of a new page in his life, after his long experience of
isolation and slow recovery.
Fr. Tom’s gratitude is
addressed to God, first of all, and then spreads throughout the Congregation
and the Salesian Family: “In the Lord’s name I wish to thank our Rector Major,
the [general] council, all the provincials of the entire Salesian world, the
rectors of the various communities, the confreres, the novices, the aspirants,
and their families, in short, the entire Salesian Family who have been with me.”
“You have purchased freedom
for me from the Lord,” he concludes, finally, specifying at the same time how
he conceives the future of his vocation and his service for the Church and for
society: “My mission in the coming years, or the period that the Lord has left
for me, is to bear witness to this fact, that the prayers of each of us are
heard by the Lord and we are blessed.”
The complete video is
available on the ANSChannel on YouTube in the original English
version and with subtitles in Italian and Spanish.
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