Pope Francis greets nun Gloria Cecilia Narvaez in the Vatican

Pope Francis welcomed Colombian nun Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argori this Sunday at the Vatican, shortly after her release after 4 years and 8 months of kidnapping by Islamists in Mali.

The Pope blessed Sister Gloria Cecilia before a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, which began a worldwide synodal process.

Sister Gloria, a member of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, was kidnapped in southern Mali in 2017.

The Malian presidency announced his release on October 9 after “four years and eight months of combined efforts by various intelligence services”.

The government posted photos on social networks of its meeting with the interim president, Colonel Assimi Goïta, accompanied by Cardinal Jean Zerbo, Archbishop of Bamako (Mali).

“We pray a lot for his release. I thank the Malian authorities and other good people who made this release possible, “the cardinal told AFP.

In a video message shared with ACI Prensa on October 9, Archbishop Mario de Jesús Álvarez Gómez, president of the Colombian Bishops Conference Missions Commission, said that soon “they will give more details about this release”.

“We give Glory to God for this time. We congratulate the Congregation, the Universal Church and thank the efforts of the Holy See, the Apostolic Nunciature in Colombia and the Episcopal Conference. Glory and blessing to God for this joyful moment, ”he added.

Gunmen abducted Sister Gloria in Karangasso, about 90 miles south of the town of San, near the border with Burkina Faso, on February 7, 2017.

The men forced her to hand over the keys to the community ambulance. The vehicle was later found abandoned. Three other sisters were present at her home but fled.

The kidnappers were going to take the younger nun, but Sister Gloria volunteered to take her place.

The Colombian nun had served in Mali for 12 years before her kidnapping.

His community runs a large health center in the country, as well as a home for around 30 orphans.

In May 2021, the nun gave a sign of life with a handwritten letter asking for prayers for her.

Before the letter’s publication, the last we heard about it was in 2019, when, in a video, the nun asked Pope Francis for help.

General Fernando Murillo, the investigating detective, revealed that the kidnapping was carried out for rescue purposes without an exact economic amount, that the Holy See would arbitrate her release and that the nun had health problems ” to the leg and kidneys “.

Mali is currently under the leadership of Goïta, who carried out two coups d’état in the space of nine months, first toppling democratically elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta in August 2020 and, in May of this year, the interim leaders who would spearhead the transition. of the government.

Following the May 24 coup, Mali’s Constitutional Court appointed Goita transitional president of Mali until the country holds elections.

The move drew criticism, with Catholic leaders in the country calling it a “takeover of power outside the legal process.”

Mali is fighting an Islamist insurgency that began in the north in 2012 and has spread to Burkina Faso and Niger, with an increase in kidnappings.

Fides Agency reported in September 2020 that Sr. Gloria’s mother died at the age of 87 while awaiting her daughter’s release.