Page 1, 22nd November 1991

22nd November 1991

Page 1

Page 1, 22nd November 1991 — Archbishop of Canterbury's freed envoy 'not involved in Irangate deal' says US priest and fellow hostage, Servite Fr Lawrence Jenco
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Locations: Rome, Canterbury, Beirut

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Archbishop of Canterbury's freed envoy 'not involved in Irangate deal' says US priest and fellow hostage, Servite Fr Lawrence Jenco

Prayers as Waite comes home at last
by Joanna Moorhead THE American priest whose freedom Terry Waite helped secure took part in a special mass to celebrate his release this week and said he had received a personal assurance from the Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy that he had never taken part in an "arms for hostages" deal.
And at London Colney, where he was taking part in this week's meeting of Catholic bishops, Cardinal Hume said he was delighted to hear of Mr Waite's release. He and fellow bishops said prayers of thanksgiving that the Waite family's long ordeal was now over.
Fr Lawrence Jenco, the Servite priest freed in 1986 after 19 months as a hostage, said he had said a mass of thanksgiving as soon as he heard the news that Terry Waite had been released in Beirut after nearly five years captivity.
In an interview with the Catholic Herald, Fr Jenco said he had prayed every day for the health and safety of Mr Waite, who became a personal friend after his intervention was credited with securing the US priest's release along with three other American hostages. Later, however, the American government was also shown to have aided the process with the sale of anti-tank missiles to Iran.
"I got to know him very well after 1 was freed. We spent quite a bit of time together and travelled together to Rome," said Fr Jenco.
"At the time there was quite a lot of publicity about the allegations that he was involved in the Irangate affair, and I asked him whether there was any truth in it. He said there was not, and I believe him."
Fr Jenco, who is now a chaplain at the University of Southern California, said he thought Mr Waite looked in good health and good spirits when he emerged from his long ordeal earlier this week. "He looked good, but he's going to have to create some space for himself. My suspicion is that he will be out and about within no time, because that's the kind of guy he is. But he will need some time to be quiet and still, and I hope he will get that."
Leader, page 4
He said he was sure that Mr Waite's faith would have helped him through his long years of being chained up, as his own faith had helped him to endure similar treatment.
Fr .Jenco said that when he saw the first TV pictures of Mr Waite after his release, he wished he could be with him. "I hope 1 will see him sometime before too long. it would be really nice to
get together again," he said.
Elsewhere in Britain, Catholics took part in ecumenical services of thanksgiving to celebrate the homecoming of the man who spent six years working for the Vatican in Rome. From 1972-79 Mr Waite worked for a medical missionary organisation advising on projects in Africa, and he later met Pope John Paul H.
• THE priest who chairs the International Refugee Year Trust, Fr Kevin Doheny, warned this week that the release of Terry Waite should not obscure the fact that a Catholic businessman, Ian Richter, is still being held in an Iraqi jail.
"The last British hostage has not been released," said Fr Doheny. "The circumstances of Ian Richter's captivity may differ from the plight of those held in Beirut but his situation is the
same.
"lie is an innocent man held hostage, deprived of his right to freedom, deprived of his right to live with his wife and three children."
Mr Richter would be "more pleased than anyone" to hear of Mr Waite's release, but he could not be blamed for sometimes wondering whether he had not become the forgotten hostage, said Danny Lillis, consultant to Refugee Year, which recently launched a prayer campaign for Mr Richter.




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