Father Jenco Says He Was Chained 6 Mos. in Solitary : Never Saw His Captors, Kin Reports

Shia Muslim kidnapers kept Father Lawrence M. Jenco in solitary confinement and chains for six months of his captivity in Lebanon and he often was blindfolded after that, members of his family said today.

John Jenco also said his 51-year-old brother and three other American hostages held as a group were told three weeks ago that they would be released, but there was no explanation when it did not happen.

The other Americans are Terry A. Anderson, 38, chief Middle East correspondent of the Associated Press; David Jacobsen, 55, of Huntington Beach, Calif., director of the American University Hospital in Beirut, and Thomas Sutherland, 55, of Fort Collins, Colo., the university’s acting dean of agriculture.

‘Treated With Respect’

Father Jenco “was never beaten, he was never brainwashed, he was treated with respect,” his brother told reporters, “but in the first several months until July 2 (1985), he was chained around his ankle and to the wall, and he had three feet to walk. He did not get too much exercise. He did not see light.”

The family spoke to reporters after Father Jenco greeted his kin with hugs, tears and kisses today and called it “a dream come true” to be free after 19 months of captivity.

The bearded Roman Catholic priest from Joliet, Ill., planned to visit Pope John Paul II in Rome before returning to the United States.

Directed Relief Services

Father Jenco was kidnaped in Beirut on Jan. 8, 1985, and released Saturday. He had been directing Catholic Relief Services operations in Lebanon that served both Christians and Muslims.

Some of the 10 family members who flew to West Germany to see the freed hostage spoke with journalists about the reunion.

A nephew, Andrew Mihelich, said Jenco is “a very tired and a very fragile man, but he responded quite well considering the ordeal he went through.”

The American hostages never knew where they were and never saw their captors, John Jenco said, and his brother was moved seven times. He said Father Jenco thought they were guarded by four men.

Rice, Beans, Cheese

Mihelich said the diet was primarily rice, cheese, beans, bread and jam.

“They were kept blindfolded when captors were present, so he has no idea who kidnaped him,” the brother told reporters near the U.S. Air Force hospital in Wiesbaden. “They were all together at the time of the release, but they (the others) did not know he was released.”

He said each of the men was blindfolded with “a three-foot scarf that they had to walk around with.”

John Jenco also said the priest had only two sets of underwear for the entire time in confinement, but he was allowed to bathe once a day.

Father Jenco was taken to the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon on Saturday and “told to start walking,” his brother said. “He did not say how far he walked; to him it seemed an eternity.” The priest was picked up by a Syrian government car.

Given Periodicals

John Jenco said the prisoners had been permitted to read periodicals for the last few weeks but had never received letters sent to them.

“They had no view of the outside. The cell that they were kept in was 13 by 15 feet and the hostages slept on mats. They prayed a lot, talked about their personal histories and families, their livelihoods and (made) general conversation just to keep their sanity,” the brother said.

He said the Shias freed the priest, who suffers from a heart ailment “because of deteriorating health. They did not want to be responsible for his death.”