AMERICA/COLOMBIA - Mother of Sister Gloria, kidnapped in Mali in 2017, died awaiting her return

Tuesday, 29 September 2020 violence   kidnappings   missionary institutes  

Pasto (Agenzia Fides) - The mother of Sister Gloria Cecilia Narváez, the Colombian nun kidnapped while on a mission in Mali on 7 February 2017, died in Pasto. Ms. Rosita Argoty de Narváez was 87 years old, and she did not lose hope of being able to hug her daughter again.
The Colombian bishops sent a message of condolences to Sister Mylena Rocero, Provincial Superior of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, a congregation to which the nun belongs. In the message they write: "We send our greetings of fraternity and closeness to the Narváez Argoty family and we pray the Lord of life to grant Ms. Rosita eternal rest, and may her loved ones receive comfort and strength in these moments of pain". They reiterate the invitation to prayer to ask for the health and prompt release of Sister Gloria Cecilia.
Sister Cecilia Narváez Argoti, a Colombian nun of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, was kidnapped while carrying out her mission in Karangasso, southern Mali, on the evening of 7 February 2017. Around 9 pm, a group of armed men raided the parish of Karangasso in Koutiala, an area considered quiet and relatively safe and kidnapped the nun. On 1 July, the Al Qaeda group from Mali published a video showing the Colombian nun and five other foreign hostages, kidnapped by the jihadist network. About a year later, in January 2018, another video was released on the internet in which Sister Gloria, who appeared to be in good condition, addressed Pope Francis asking him to intervene for her release. The video of a few minutes was recorded during the Christmas holidays.
On 6 February 2020, during the work of the Plenary Assembly of the Colombian Bishops' Conference, three years after the kidnapping, Mgr. Mario de Jesús Álvarez Gómez, Bishop of Istmina-Tadó and member of the Commission for missionary animation, said: "No, we have not forgotten Sister Gloria Cecilia Narváez, we are united in trusting prayer to God so that the Lord may touch the hearts of these people and the sister may find freedom" (see Fides 8/2/2017; 9/2/2017; 10/3/2017; 18/3/2017; 3/7/2017; 30/1/2018). (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 29/9/2020)


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