On Monday morning of this week, I checked the Drudge Report as I usually do. Normally I do it to make myself angry before a long day and that probably isn’t good for my health, or my soul. But that is neither here nor there. What I saw on the banner filled me with absolute dread. “EASTER HORROR: ISIS CRUCIFIES CATHOLIC PRIEST ON GOOD FRIDAY”

If you are unaware of the situation, let me bring you up to speed. On March 4th of this year, Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, a Catholic priest from India, was kidnapped from a retirement home in Yemen after Islamic Militants stormed the building, killing 16 including 4 nuns. A rumor started circulating that Fr. Tom was to be tortured and crucified on Good Friday. I paid close attention, checking up on the story daily. Then Good Friday came. During the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at my Parish my family and I prayed for the priest. All day I was afraid of the news. I checked throughout the day. Nothing. The day came and went and so did the next day. Then Easter Sunday came and went and still, no news. Thank God.

So now we’re back to Monday. “Oh my God, no” I muttered to myself when I saw the headline. I immediately clicked the link and found that it was from the Mirror. Apparently, during a homily over the weekend the Cardinal of Vienna, Christoph Schönborn, had mentioned in his homily that the rumor that Fr. Tom had been crucified was valid enough to, “worry it was real.” That’s it. That was the entire sourcing for the article. So I started frantically Googling in an attempt to find out more. All the while steeling myself for the picture of the crucified priest or even worse, a video. All I could find was another article by another British newspaper which was basically a carbon copy of the Mirror article. Something smelled fishy.

If we know anything about ISIS, Al Qaeda, Al Nusra, Boko Haram (unfortunately, the list goes on) it is that they are incapable of keeping something horrific a secret. They become giddy at the sight of pain and blood. So it was odd to me that nothing was verified. Eventually, later that day the National Catholic Register reported that they had no reason to believe that Fr. Tom had been crucified. Today, April 1st (the perfect day to make Drudge look foolish) the Independent is reporting that there is now a ransom video that has been posted demanding a large sum of money for the priest’s safe return. Now, this video could be a fake. However what we do know now, is that all indications are pointing to the fact that Fr. Tom is still alive and being held captive and that there is no evidence that he had been crucified.

I understand that Drudge wants to keep their page views up. I understand that they want to remain as important to the right/alt-right as they possibly can. But when journalistic integrity takes a back seat to concrete information, you are no longer a news outlet. It was a ridiculously blatant attempt to keep people on a site which at this point relies on panic to sustain itself.

I will continue to pray for Fr. Tom and I hope that others will as well. If you have the time, say a few prayers for Drudge. I had a feeling they had collectively sold their souls when they began to worship at the altar of the lunatic in the hairpiece, but reveling in the rumor of a crucified priest… sort of confirms my suspicion.