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Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez's release was confirmed by the President of the Commission for Missions of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia
By La Croix International staff | Colombia
Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez, a Colombian nun who was held hostage in Mali by a branch of the al-Qaeda group in Mali since February 2017 has been released.
Bishop Mario de Jesús Álvarez Gómez of Istmina-Tadó, president of the Commission for Missions of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia, confirmed the nun's release October 9, through a video message.
"It is with immense joy that I announce the release of Sister Gloria Cecilia Narváez, a religious of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, who was recently released in Mali, Africa," he said.
Bishop Álvarez Gómez thanked the Holy See, the Apostolic Nunciature of Colombia and the Episcopal Conference of Colombia for their efforts in obtaining the nun's release, according to Fides.
"We give glory and blessing to God for this joyful moment of the universal Church and of the Church in Colombia", he said.
The Colombian government has also expressed satisfaction with Sister Gloria's release.
Colombian Vice President and Foreign Minister, Marta Luc¡a Ram¡rez, in a statement, said that it was a goal that the national government had set itself and for which it worked with multiple contacts and various leaders in Africa.
Church leaders had continued to pray for the nun's release.
On February 7, 2021 Archbishop Francisco Javier Múnera Correa of San Vicente del Caguán and president of the episcopal commission for missionary animation had re-launched an appeal for Sister Gloria's release, for respect for her human dignity and for her religious status, dedicated entirely to the service of the most needy in mission lands.
He told the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate that the bishops had not forgotten Sister Gloria.
The now 58-year-old religious had been working as a missionary in the area for more than 10 years at the time of her abduction. Sister Gloria was abducted outside the church in Karangasso, in southern Mali, near the border with Burkina Faso.
In an online video from July 1, 2017, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, 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," they said.
The Colombian authorities had noted in September 2017 that she was in a precarious state of health.
"She is alive, but her health is not good. She has problems with a leg and a kidney," reported the general of the Colombian police, Fernando Murillo, in charge of the investigation.
A video published in January 2018 by the US Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) showed Sister Gloria in a religious habit, looking tired and pleading for help from the pope.
In a second video from June 2018, she was shown alongside the French hostage Sophie Petronin and again addressed Pope Francis.
The latest news about Sister Gloria came in October 2020 when Petronin who was then realized expressed concern about the nun's health. The two women had spent much of their captivity together.
The day after her kidnapping, the Catholic Church in Mali undertook efforts to get the Franciscan sister released.
The Episcopal Conference of Mali put an emergency plan in place throughout the country to broadcast a message on all media, pleading for her release.
The Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate also launched a petition in May 2017 for her release. It gathered more than 90,000 signatures.
General Murillo announced on January 12, 2018, that the Holy See would mediate to obtain Sister Gloria's release.
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