Priest home after kidnap ordeal

Elderly priest Fr Michael Sinnott made an emotional return to Ireland today for the first time since his month in captivity at the hands of Philippine rebels.

And the 79-year-old, who has a serious heart problem, vowed to go back to his work as a Columban missionary in Pagadian City on the island of Mindanao in the new year.

Fr Sinnott was embraced by family members as he arrived at Dublin airport.

“It was more or less tearful and hugging, rather than talking,” he said afterwards.

“But they’re all glad to see me back. I feel fine, thank God. It must be a result of all the prayers that were said for me.”

The Wexford-born cleric was forced to hike through jungles, survive raging seas and sleep in a swamp under a tarpaulin during the 32 days after the kidnapping from his gated compound in Pagadian City on October 11.

But he insisted he was not afraid the rebel Muslim grouping – a rogue breakaway of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) styling itself the Lost Command - would kill him.

“I never felt any danger from my captors,” he said.

“The only thing I did feel was that if the military tried to release me by force, that in the three places were I was confined, it was so confined a space that it would have been difficult for me to get out alive if there was an armed encounter.

“But the captors assured me once they got me into the boat in Pagadian that they wouldn’t kill a priest.”

Fr Sinnott said once he was rested and had enjoyed Christmas with his family he wanted to return to the Philippines where he runs a school for young people with learning and hearing difficulties called Hangop Kabatan – meaning refuge.

“Why wouldn’t I?” he said. “I’ve been working all my life in the Philippines ... What little I can do, I’ll do it for as long as I can.”