Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Ouagadougou (Fides News Agency) - Iulian Gherguţ - abducted in Burkina Faso 8 years ago - has been released and is already back in his home country of Romania.
The news was announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to which "the operation accomplished by returning Romanian citizen Iulian Gherguţ to our country is the result of the work done by all the institutions within the Inter-institutional Crisis Cell, which took permanent steps for the release of the Romanian national, across all levels and political-diplomatic channels."
"Great news of liberation: HALLELUJAH" was the comment of Father Pier Luigi Maccalli, a priest with the Society of African Missions, who was himself held hostage by Jihadists for the better part of two years in the Sahel and who, for all this time, had continued to pray for Iulian's release.
In April 2023 the Ghergut family was made aware of a video of their relative dating back to the month of December 2021 (see Fides News Agency 6/5/2023).
In its missive, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "welcomes the opportunity to thank - on behalf of Romanian authorities - all outside partners, and Moroccan authorities in particular, for the critical assistance provided for the resolution of this extremely complex case".
(GM/AP) (Fides News Agency 9/8/2023)
