and drug use and alcohol-selling.

How has the  Church officially  responded to the plight of Brian O’Connor?
We have looked for some information regarding  the report of this particular incident from the Saudi Embassy. We have asked for information, but we have not sent an official letter from the Bishops Conference at all. The incident has been widely reported in the papers, and so we wanted more information. This information, of course, we could not get.

There was a basic miscommunication about a letter. We have not sent an ‘official letter’ at all on behalf  of the Bishops Conference  to the Saudi Embassy.

What is the reaction of Indian Christians to news of Brian’s torture?

Christian organizations, particularly, the All India Catholic Union seemed to have sent a fax message to the Embassy, appealing for his release. They have done this independently.

Will the Church increase involvement if the matter is not resolved justly? 

I will say this: In case there is a need, we may take it up within the government, because this has to do with the two governments of India and Saudi Arabia. Therefore, we will do so if there is a need. We have not yet petitioned the government.

If there is a request  to the Bishop’s Conference from concerned people, then we might consider doing so. But as of yet, we have not done anything extraordinary.

How is the Church in India standing in solidarity with one of its members  who is suffering for the faith?

People have been asked to pray both on the diocesan level and in his native place, Karnataka, for Brian’s release. We are certainly concerned about his situation. The Church has of course been in contact with his family. In the meantime,  we must all wait and hope and pray.

According to ICC, O'Connor had received visitors and had communicated that his legs were chained and he was hung upside down and "the Muttawa came in turns of four and kicked [him] in the chest and rib area" up until 2 am the next morning. O'Connor had also told visitors that he was whipped on his back and the soles of his feet by electrical wires and was in much pain when he walked.

Prior to his arrest, O'Connor was known to be an upstanding citizen in the community. Executives at the El Khereji Corporation, where O'Connor worked as a cargo agent for Saudi Airlines, have declared that the liquor allegations against their employee are a "cover-up" for the real reason for his arrest.

O'Connor has acknowledged that he led Bible studies for expatriate Christians in his home, specifying that he only did so after the local press reported that Saudi authorities had publicly declared that non-Muslims living in the kingdom were permitted to practice their religious beliefs in private.