Fr. Jenco Gives Pope Message From Captors : Jenco Delivers Secret Message to John Paul II

Father Lawrence M. Jenco met with Pope John Paul II today and delivered a confidential message from the Muslim extremists who held him and others captive.

Jenco, former head of Catholic Relief Services in Lebanon, said the Pope hugged him during the brief audience, but he declined to reveal details of their talks.

“Perhaps sometimes I can’t answer your questions because I have fear that what I might say might be detrimental to my brothers who are still held hostage in Lebanon,” Jenco told reporters.

“So I would hope that you would have the kindness to understand my silence,” he said. “My silence really is a shout of fear and concern for those others who are still held.”

3 Americans Still Held

Three Americans are still being held by Muslim extremists in Lebanon, along with 12 other foreigners. Islamic Jihad said last October that it had killed a fourth U.S. hostage, diplomat William Buckley.

The U.S. citizens in captivity include David Jacobsen of Huntington Beach, Calif., administrator at Beirut’s American University Hospital, who was taken May 28, 1985; Terry Anderson, chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press, who was seized March 16, 1985, and Thomas Sutherland, dean of the American University agriculture school, who was kidnaped June 9, 1985.

Jenco, dressed in a navy blue clerical suit and wearing a yellow ribbon and a gold bar pin over his heart reading “Free the hostages,” said the last time he saw the Polish-born pontiff was at the Phanat Nikhom refugee camp in Thailand in May, 1984.

Surprised to Be Refugee

“I never thought that I myself would be a refugee,” Jenco said. “I give praise and thanks to the Lord God that I have been delivered safely.”

Jenco, after asking for prayers for the remaining hostages, read a brief statement.

“I have had a personal discussion with his holiness the Pope and with Vatican officials,” he said. “To keep my promise, I have given a confidential message from my captors to the Holy Father.

“The religious factor is of great importance in this matter. Tomorrow I will give the same message to another great Christian person, the Archbishop of Canterbury.”

Jenco later left Rome for London, where he will meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury on Thursday.