PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / July 18, 2012) – Irish missionary Father Michael Sinnott is returning back to his country – 58 years after arriving in the southern Philippines where he was kidnapped in 2009 by Muslim rebels and freed after payment of ransom.
Sinnott, who belongs to the Society of Saint Columban, is flying Friday to Ireland where he is to retire, according to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
On Tuesday, Filipino priests and friends held a send-off party for Sinnott at the historic Malate Church. The Irish priest said it was difficult for him to decide whether to return home or stay in the Philippines.
“It really was a very difficult decision to make. I realized that I’m going home and not going back but I still think I made the right decision that there is really nothing more I can do here in Manila that there’s more I can do at home,” CBCP quoted Sinnott as saying.
“I will live a big part of my heart here in the Philippines and I will always remember the people that I met and helped me,” he added.
Sinnott was kidnapped by rebels in October 2009 from his missionary house in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province and freed a month later in Zamboanga City after government negotiators allegedly paid huge ransom for his freedom.
“For the long time that I’ve been here…it’s been a privileged for me to serve the people of the Philippines and I learned a lot more from them more than I gave, especially from the ordinary people for their goodness and their faith,” he said.
“I also would like to thank the Columbans for their support. We sometimes have an arguments but I have to say that every time I was in trouble they were always there to help me,” he added. (Mindanao Examiner)
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