Pope Francis was able to greet a Colombian nun who was kidnapped by jihadists in Mali almost five years ago. Upon her release, Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argor, 58, immediately traveled to Rome.
Her meeting with the Pope took place at Sunday’s inaugural Mass of the Synod on Synodality, the statement said without giving further details.
Sister Gloria Cecilia Navarez arrived Saturday evening in the capital of Mali, from where she flew to Rome, reported Vatican News. The nun attended the Mass for the launch of the Synod in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Sister Carmen Isabel Valencia, the provincial of the convent from which Sister Gloria left for the mission, shared with Aleteia her joy:
I don’t have words to express my happiness. I want to shout to the entire world, ‘My God, a thousand times thank you.’ Thank you for the prayers of so many people, thank you to those who were able to free her, and the press that never forgot her,
At the end of the papal Mass in St. Peter’s, Pope Francis went up to Sister Gloria Cecilia and blessed her, Vatican media reported live.
The nun, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, was kidnapped in February 2017 by jihadists in Western Africa, in Mali, at the border with Burkina Faso. She had been serving in Mali for more than 10 years. The order runs a medical center and orphanage there.
The Malian presidency announced her release on Saturday, October 9, 2021.
Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez was held hostage with the Italian priest Father Pierluigi Maccalli, who was released last year.
And today we celebrate...