by Gian Francesco Romano
The recently released Indian missionary arrived at the Salesian Center early in the morning. Fr Tom was welcomed by the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, by his Vicar, several members of the General Council, and many civil and religious authorities and figures. Dr. Reenat Sandhu, Ambassador of India to Italy, offered a floral tribute to Fr Tom. The press conference then began, moderated by Fr Moreno Filipetto, with an introduction by the Rector Major, with Fr Ivo Coelho, General Counselor for Formation, as a translator.
"Thank you. In these 18 months we have never felt alone," began Fr Á. F. Artime, who in his brief introductory speech also reiterated what he had already said in his letter to the Salesian Family about the manner of Fr Tom's liberation: "We cannot say what we do not know."
Fr Tom's began: his first thoughts were for the Missionaries of Charity killed. "I thank God and am pleased to see the Missionaries of Charity here. I offer my condolences," he said, then stopped for a moment, visibly moved.
Father Tom spoke of that March 4, 2016, the day of the attack and his kidnapping. "I did not cry. I was not afraid. I only prayed God for the sisters, for the custodians, and the other victims. God has been very merciful to me," he said.
He specified that in the attack the kidnappers also took away the tabernacle, so for a short while he also had hosts to celebrate the Eucharist. Fr Tom repeatedly stated he had never been mistreated and for this he thanked "the prayers and sacrifices of the entire world." Apart from the deprivation of liberty, he was able to sleep well; he was fed, his health cared for, provided with medicines, and once even underwent a medical examination.
"The first video was shot the day after the kidnapping," he said, its function to see if and whom among family members, governments and authorities would move to obtain his release. Fr Tom excluded that his kidnappers were interested in his faith, since they had never tried to proselytize.
He almost apologized for mentioning the Pope and the Indian authorities in the videos he was forced to record. And again, he said that although it looked like he had been abused or mistreated, it was "a ruse to arouse interest."
As he spoke, he opened up increasingly more, describing in detail how he lived his eighteen months of captivity: the various transfers from one unknown location to the next, the difficulty of keeping count of days going by, the large amount of time devoted to daily prayer: "I prayed for many people," for the Pope, the Missionaries of Charity, the Church ... "And also for my kidnappers."
Regarding his release, he said he only knew that the kidnappers had planned it for the day before his actual release, but the other party failed to appear at the appointment and so his release was postponed and took place one day later than originally intended. In the end, he was consigned to a driver who quickly drove him to Oman.
"I was able to run a race in the desert," he said sarcastically; in the same tone, he added: "I've never been to Pope Francis and, probably, without this adventure I would never have had a chance." Of his meeting with the Pope, he said he held many dear and emotional memories, such as when the Pope kissed his hands "even though I did not feel worthy of it."
At the end of the press conference, Father Tom met a small group of Missionaries of Charity who came specifically to greet him. The meeting was brief, Fr Tom unable to find words. More was said via their gazes, their thoughts reserved for the religious who were killed and for the only survivor, Sister Sally: all of them, like him, were in Yemen only to serve the most needy and to offer comfort to the country's several hundred Catholics.
Father Tom shall remain in the Vatican for a few more days for final medical examinations, after which he will return to India, at his home Province, in Bangalore.
https://www.infoans.org/en/sezioni-eventi/item/3992-rmg-father-tom-i-am-what-i-am-today-because-god-has-taken-care-of-me#sigProIdd60d17edef
