According to Vatican News, Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez, a Colombian nun abducted over four years in southern Mali, has finally been set free.
“The Archbishop of Mumako, Jean Zerbo, confirms Sister Gloria is safe and well,” said the News agency. He said: “I thank the Authorities and good people, who have brought about her release. We have prayed long and hard for this day.”
Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez was abducted outside of a church in Karangasso, southern Mali, where she had been working as a missionary for ten years.
A video was released in July 2017 by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM), a branch of al-Qaeda that claimed responsibility for her abduction.
“Gloria Cecilia Narváez was sent by her congregation to Mali to preach Christianity and convert Muslims to their religion,” the abductors said in the video. “She and her congregation only intend to strip the Muslims of Mali of their beliefs and replace them with lies.”
Back in June, Pier Luigi Maccalli, an Italian priest freed after spending two years held captive by jihadists in Niger, appealed for the release of Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez. “On this day, I ask from the bottom of my heart: let us not forget her!” Father Maccalli told Fides news agency. “I appeal to the public and ask all Christians to pray for her release, mindful and grateful for the incessant prayer, in grateful memory of the many prayers that were said for my release.”
We thank God for Sister Gloria’s safe return home.
