Sister Gloria Cecilia Navarez, a Colombian Franciscan nun kidnapped in February 2017 by jihadists in Mali, was released this Saturday, October 9, announced the Malian presidency.
She was kidnapped on February 7, 2017 near Koutiala, 400 km east of Bamako. She had then worked as a missionary for six years in the parish of Karangasso with three other nuns.
The presidency of Mali praised in a press release “the courage and bravery of the sister”, specifying that this release is “the crowning of four years and eight months of combined efforts of several intelligence services”.
“I thank the Malian authorities, the president, all the Malian authorities for all the efforts you have made to free me. May God bless you, may God bless Mali, ”the nun said on Malian public television.
She appeared alongside the interim president, Colonel Assimi Goïta, is the Archbishop of Bamako Monsignor Jean Zerbo. The latter assured AFP that the nun “was doing well”. “We prayed a lot for his release. I thank the Malian authorities and the other goodwill that made this release possible, ”he said.
An “immense joy”
The president of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia, Monsignor Mario de Jesús Álvarez Gómez, for his part expressed his “immense joy”.
“I am very happy with the news of the release in Mali of our dear compatriot, the nun Gloria Cecilia Navarez, a goal that we had set ourselves within the national government and for which we have worked with President Ivan Duque for many years. months, ”Colombian Foreign Minister Marta Lucía Ramírez said in a statement.
The latter also underlined the “humanitarian efforts of the French government to contribute to this success”.
An official at Bamako airport, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Gloria had arrived in the Malian capital on Saturday evening from where she was due to fly to Rome. The Colombian woman’s departure from Bamako was confirmed by the city’s archdiocese.
