FR MICHAEL Sinnott is a native of the Clonard area of Wexford town. The unexpected sound of Filipino echoed through Co Wexford yesterday as South East Radio broadcast the dramatic soundtrack of the breaking news report from Philippines State Television. Three words in English – Fr Michael Sinnott – were clearly audible.
The current affairs presenter, Alan Corcoran, announced that it was great to have a “fabulous news story to start a wet day”. The radio station was inundated with text messages from listeners expressing delight.
At the Church of the Assumption in Wexford town’s parish of Clonard, where Fr Sinnott had grown up, a prayer shrine had been erected with his photograph. Rita Gerrard said she “just lit candles to say thank you”. The news of the priest’s safe release had been announced the previous evening at the Wexford Ladies’ Social Club and “a cheer went up”, she said.
Relatives of Fr Sinnott expressed “huge relief and joy that Uncle Mal was safe and well and had come to no harm”.
They heard the news in a phone call from the “wonderful” Department of Foreign Affairs at 8.40pm on Wednesday. His niece Áine O’Meara said that hearing her uncle’s voice from more than 7,000 miles away reminded her of his “strength of character and his selflessness”. She said he had “great mental strength” but the family had been “worried because of his age and the circumstances he had to endure”.
Another niece, Mary O’Keeffe, said she did not expect that Fr Sinnott would want to return to Ireland in the near future as “his heart is over there” and she believed he would want to get back to work as soon as possible. She described him as “a very humble” and “very strong man”. He had made a number of telephone calls yesterday to “catch up with” his large extended family including his four sisters, Áine Kenny (Campile); Kay O’Neill (Clondalkin), Eithne Browne (Bristol) and Sr Josephine Sinnott (Rathfarnham).
Ms O’Keeffe said that Fr Sinnott had also had two other sisters and two brothers “who have passed away”. Among the many people delighted by the news was Rosie Kearns (93), who “used to look after him as a child”, she said.
Fr Sinnott was “a big part of her life” and visited her every time he was home. Ms Kearns had been very upset and worried about his ordeal and had been attending the church every morning praying for his release.
Parish priest of Clonard Fr Denis Lennon, who knows Fr Sinnott very well, said “we have been praying for him every day since he was abducted”. He had been holding a fundraising bingo session in the parish hall and “when the word broke there was a great outbreaking of delight”.
He described Fr Sinnott as “a much-loved and widely respected man” who was “one of our own”. He believed Fr Sinnott’s reputation as “a great bridge-builder in the Philippines between Muslims and Christians” would have assisted his release.
Fr Lennon said “his captors would have had great difficulty with him because he’s such a gentle character and so prayerful that he could have had them won over in a short while if they sat and talked to him”. He believes that Fr Sinnott may find the media attention a “more difficult ordeal than his kidnap” as he was a man who would “shun any kind of limelight” and “wouldn’t want brass bands”.
Mayor of Wexford Cllr Philomena Roche said there was “palpable relief and joy in the town”. She had called members of the family to express the delight and good wishes of the local authority. While acknowledging that Fr Sinnott was a “very private man” she looked forward to giving him “a warm welcome” when he returned home.
She plans to consult with Fr Sinnott’s family and the church authorities with a view to hosting a civic reception whenever he returns to Ireland “to show him how much the people appreciate his work for the poor and underprivileged in the Philippines”.