Columban director rules out ransom payment for kidnapped priest

Published Date: October 15, 2009

The head of the Columban missioners in the Philippines has ruled out payment of any ransom for kidnapped confrere Father Michael Sinnott, while admitting there is still no news of the priest´s whereabouts.

Father Patrick O’Donoghue

“We don´t know yet who has taken Father Sinnott, we don´t know where he has been taken and what are the circumstances and demands,” Father Patrick O´Donoghue, Regional Director of the Missionary Society of St. Columban, told UCA News.

Father O´Donoghue said he would like to appeal to the kidnappers to return the priest, who has a heart condition and is without his medication.

“I would say to you, you have made a mistake,” said Father O´Donoghue. “I don´t know what your motives are … if you want glory, you will get great praise from everybody if you realize the mistake you have made, if you can release him so that he can come back to his community. So please, please release him.”

The priest was speaking at the St. Columban´s Residence in Pagadian City, southeast of Manila, where armed men forced their way in on Oct. 11 and seized 79-year-old Father Sinnott. They bundled him into a vehicle and later headed out to sea with the priest.

The Zamboanga del Sur provincial governor´s office on Oct. 15 released sketches of three suspects based on witnesses´ accounts.

Father O´Donoghue said his society would not give in to ransom demands, if made. “The Church has always maintained the policy that we do not pay ransom … from the Columbans´ point of view, we do not pay ransom. The Church has never, never paid ransom,” he said.

The priest also responded to comments on some blogs saying that the missionary society had been “foolhardy” with the safety of its missioners. “I think there is unfairness with that,” he said.

“For us the value of service, the gift of ourselves to mission, entails risks. We don´t take unnecessary risks. When we are in any danger, we would do our best to guard ourselves,” he stressed.

“Nobody I´ve spoken to in the last few days here ever believed that in this center of Pagadian City, in our compound … there would have been any danger of this kind.”

Father O´Donoghue also spoke of his initial horror when he found out about the crime.

“Initially, in shock, I was thinking this will all be over in an hour, but when I realized there was a big problem I called Father (Daniel) O´Malley, who was living with Father Sinnott but was on vacation in Ireland.

Father Michael Sinnott

“He informed Father Sinnott´s family because I did not wish them to hear it from media,” he said.

Father O´Donoghue said the kidnapping has been traumatic not just for his order but for everyone who knows Father Sinnott. “His life has been about giving himself to others — children with learning disabilities, with hearing impairments and many others, including Muslims, have shown appreciation for this.

“Yesterday I went to the school (that Father Sinnott was working in) and I realized just how much that man is loved and I just find it so hard to understand how he could be taken, a man whom everybody in this diocese respects deeply.”

The Columbans are working with authorities and Father O´Donoghue says he is happy with the quick response from law enforcement agencies. “I believe they are doing what they can,” he said.

He and other senior Catholics had emphasized to the authorities that the priority has to be the health of Father Sinnott.

“There are about eight kinds of medicines he should be taking. We have to ensure his health is taken care of, then we would try to work for his release … We should be able to facilitate getting medication to Father Sinnott.”

The Missionary Society of St. Columban was founded by Irish Father Edward Galvin in 1918. Its history in the Philippines dates back to 1929, when three Columbans answered an urgent plea for priests in the country. Over the next 10 years, more Columbans were sent, initially training catechists, rebuilding war-damaged churches and later establishing schools.

In recent years they have been training lay leaders for basic Christian communities in remote areas of the country.

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