KUWAIT - A Filipino bishop who visited Kuwait recently has issued an appeal to the kidnappers who snatched an Irish priest in Pagadian City on October 11, Balitang Middle East reported.

ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau correspondent Maxxy Santiago reported that Legazpi City Bishop Lucilo Quiambao was worried about the condition of Fr. Michael Sinnott of the Missionary Society of St. Columban.

“May those concerned regarding the kidnapping of this Columban priest be enlightened in their minds and soften their hearts, and free right away this Columban father,” said Bishop Quiambao.

Quiambao made the appeal while in Kuwait on the invitation of Holy Family Cathedral parish priest, Fr. Ben Barrameda. The bishop took part in the celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia.

On Saturday, the Philippine military said it has pinpointed a "general area" in Mindanao where the priest was believed to have been taken by his kidnappers, but authorities declined to divulge the exact location pending a rescue operation.

"It is unthinkable that a man of peace, in sacrificing his living comfort and the warmth of home, if only to come to the Philippines to be with us Filipinos to spread the faith and peace is a victim now of kidnapping,” Quiambao said.

The bishop also issued his concern for the Irish priest who has undergone heart bypass operation.

“He must have some maintenance medication and I wonder if he was able to bring some of those medications. I hope these kidnappers would take into consideration the needs of this old man," he said

Meanwhile, Quiambao praised overseas Filipinos based in Kuwait and in the rest of the Middle East for extending assistance to
typhoon-affected Pinoys in the Philippines.

“We show ourselves that we are Christians by our love for those who are in need,” he said. Report from Maxxy Santiago, ABS-CBN Middle East News Bureau, Kuwait