Prayer meetings were held in different parts of Kerala on Saturday, the day that marked one year since terrorists in Yemen took a priest from the state captive after a shoot-out that killed several people.

The state government has also formally asked the federal government to intensify efforts to free the priest who was abducted in Yemen after many of his colleagues who were working with him at a care centre for the elderly were shot dead.

Fr Tom Uzhunnalil belongs to Ramapuram near Pala in Kottayam district, the same district that produced India’s first Catholic saint, Alphonsa.

K.M. Mani, a former finance minister and a legislator from Pala for half a century, said that if required the federal government should seek the help of United Nations agencies to seek the rescue of Uzhunnalil.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of India chairman, Cardinal Mar Baselius Cleemis and some members of parliament from Kerala had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking help from the federal government for Uzhunnalil’s release.

Although it is a full year since Uzhunnalil has been in captivity, it is not clear which terrorist outfit was behind the attack or where Uzhunnalil is being held captive now.

Besides local Kerala parishes that organised prayers for the release of Uzhunnalil, the Salesian community also held special prayers. Uzhunnalil is a member of the Indian Salesian order.

He was captured in Aden, Yemen on March 4, 2016 in a terrorist attack in which four Missionaries of Charity members and a dozen others were killed.