Mali: New video released of nun kidnapped last year

Sister Gloria before she was kidnapped

Source: Fides/ICN

A video showing a Religious Sister kidnapped nearly a year ago in Mali, has given fresh hope to her family and friends. Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argoti, a Colombian religious of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, was kidnapped in the morning of 8 February 2017 by a group of armed men who broke into the church in Sikasso in southern Mali where she was working.

Mgr Jean-Baptiste Tiama, Bishop of Sikasso, in Mali, told Fides: "We have seen the video and we are happy to know she is alive and this urges us to continue our prayers and efforts for her release. It comforted us to see that Sister Gloria appears in good condition and the fact that she referred to the Pope's trip to Chile and Peru makes us think that the video is recent. And this gives us much hope," he said.

Bishop Tiama said that on the anniversary of her abduction next week, the entire diocesan community is going to the place where she was kidnapped, to pray for her release.

In July 2017, a previous video of Sister Gloria was released by the kidnappers who claim to belong to the 'Support Group to Islam and Muslims' linked to Al Qaida.

In the new video, which lasts four minutes and 44 seconds, Sister Gloria appeals to Pope Francis to intervene for her release.