President Mary McAleese has today hosted a reception honouring Fr Michael Sinnott (79) in the wake of his release in the Philippines.
Fr Sinnott was held hostage in the Philippines for 31 days. The priest, from Clonard, Co Wexford, was abducted by four men while taking walk in his residential compound in Pagadian in the troubled southern island of Mindanao on October 11th. He has returned home to Ireland to spend Christmas with his family.
Fr Sinnott said he never felt in danger while in captivity. His kidnappers told him they would never kill a priest. His only fear was that he might not survive if the military tried to release him by force.
He said he had built up a rapport with his captors, and bore them no ill will. “They couldn’t have done more to help me in the difficult circumstances we were living in.
“Apart from the ideological lectures I got from time to time, we were the best of friends,” he added. “The man in charge used to say I was like his father, and he was my son . . . I have no great feelings against them. I pray for them occasionally.”
Members of Fr Sinnot's family and members from his Columban Missionaries order also attended today's function at Áras an Uachtaráin.