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Let us pray the rosary to give thanks for the release of the Cameroonian priests

The Diocese of Mamfe has directed that prayers of thanksgiving be said for the release on Saturday of nine people who were abducted in September from a local parish.

The nine were released on Saturday the 22th of October.

“I urge each of you to pray a decade of the rosary in thanksgiving to God for the safe release of our brothers and sisters who were kidnapped,” Bishop Aloysius Fondong Abangalo of Mamfe said in an Oct. 23 statement to the diocese.

“I am sincerely grateful to all those who joined us in this collective effort in praying for the safety and release of our brothers and sisters,” he said, adding: “Words will only do scant justice in expressing my sentiments of gratitude to all those who collaborated with us in the process of negotiating for their safety and release.”

On Sept. 16, unidentified gunmen attacked St. Mary parish in Nchang, in Cameroon’s Southwest Region. Nine people were abducted and buildings on the parish premises, including the church, were burned down. 

The attackers kidnapped Father Elias Okorie, Father Barnabas Ashu, Father Cornelius Jingwa, Father Job Francis Nwobegu, Father Emmanuel Asaba, Sister Jacinta C. Udeagha, Nkem Patrick Osang (an assistant catechist), Blanche Bright, and Mme. Kelechukwu.

In his statement announcing their release, Abangalo said: “Permit me to use this opportunity to commend your collective efforts at prayer.”

“I seize this opportunity, once again, to condemn the act of desecrating the church, in the strongest terms possible, and to decry the need for the enhancement of human dignity.” 

“Taking away the freedom of our fellow brothers and sisters in order to make money at all cost is inhuman and should be desisted from whoever engages in such,” the Cameroonian bishop said.

On the 24th of October, Abangalo announced that a Mass of thanksgiving for the release of the captives was to be said the following day at the cathedral in Mamfe.

The arson attack on St. Mary parish is one of the latest incidents in the context of Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis.

Source: Catholic News Agency

Photo: Most Rev Fr Aloysius Fondong Abangalo New Bishop of Mamfe, Source: Hilltopfvoice

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