An indian priest kidnapped by militants in Yemen 18 months ago has described his ordeal. Fr Tom Uzhunnalil, who was abducted from a Missionaries of Charity care home in Aden, told reporters it was a mystery why he was not killed. On the day of his kidnap four nuns and 12 others were murdered by gunmen. Seeing a group of Missionaries of Charity Sisters seated at a press conference in Rome, Fr Uzhunnalil expressed his condolences. The room fell silent as he covered his eyes, tears streaming down his face. “I thank God Almighty for this day, for keeping me safe, healthy, clear minded. My emotions were in control until now,” he said after regaining his composure. “I don’t want to speak too much about the Sisters because I get too emotional,” he said. Although reports following his kidnapping suggested the attack was carried out by ISIS, Fr Uzhunnalil said his captors never identified themselves. Knowing very little Arabic, Fr Uzhunnalil said he spoke to the militants with the few words he knew: “Ana hindiin” (“I am Indian”). “Why they did not kill me, why they didn’t tie my hands, I don’t know,” he said. “Perhaps they wanted some ransom or whatever it is. I only believe that maybe God had put that into their heads when I said, ‘I am Indian,’ and they made me sit there while they killed the others, the Sisters.” After leaving him in the car boot, the militants ransacked the chapel, taking the tabernacle, wrapping it in the altar linen and placing it near the kidnapped priest. With his hands unbound, Fr Uzhunnalil carefully moved the linen and found “four or five small Hosts”, which he kept to celebrate the Eucharist in the first few days of his capture. After the supply ran out, he said, he continued reciting the Mass prayers when alone, despite not having bread and wine. “I peacefully was able to say my Eucharist all from memory, although bread and wine wasn’t available. But I prayed to God to give me those items spiritually,” Fr Uzhunnalil said. He spent most of his days praying for the Pope, his bishop, his Salesian brothers and “certainly those Sisters, all those persons whom God had called” on the day of his abduction. Fr Uzhunnalil said he found consolation in the words of a hymn, One Day at a Time, Sweet Jesus. “Just give me the strength to do every day what I have to do. Yesterday’s gone, sweet Jesus, and tomorrow may never be mine. Lord, help me today, show me the way, one day at a time,” he would sing to himself in the solitude of his room. On September 11, Fr Uzhunnalil was given the news of his liberation. After travelling for hours blindfolded, the priest along with two of his captors waited in the car. Several hours later, his captors told him that “some arrangements weren’t done” and they headed back. That night he was rustled out of bed and taken on the same long ride. He ended up in Moscat, the capital of Oman, where he received medical treatment, fresh clothes and a shaving kit. The day after his release he met Pope Francis. When the Pope entered the room Fr Uzhunnalil kneeled before him and kissed his feet. Visibly moved by the gesture, the Pope helped him up and kissed his hands. Before blessing Fr Uzhunnalil, the Pope embraced him and said he would continue to pray for him as he had done during his imprisonment. “In that meeting, the Pope kissed my hand. I never deserved it,” he said. “I’m only grateful to God for his blessings, I’m sure he prayed much for me.” Even his captors, Fr Uzhunnalil said, knew of the Pope’s efforts and inadvertently gave him a reason to hope. “One of the captors told me, ‘The Pope has said you will be freed soon but nothing is happening still.’ From that, I knew that the whole world was there, the whole Church was there, the world was worried for me. So I am grateful,” he said.