The six sisters of the Congregation of Saint Anne kidnapped on January 19 in Port-au-Prince (Haiti) have been released. The other people who accompanied them and who were taken hostage by armed men who had blocked the bus in which they were traveling and who, according to local media, had demanded a ransom of 3.5 million, have also been released. Confirmation of the release reached the Vatican media through the metropolitan archbishop of the Haitian capital, Max Leroys Mesidor, president of the local Episcopal Conference, who expressed his joy at the news and thanked all those who had paid attention and offered their support. support in this situation: “We thank God! Thank you for your support.”

The Pope’s call at the Angelus

At the Angelus last Sunday, January 21, the Pope made a “heartfelt” appeal from the window of the Apostolic Palace for the release of the six nuns and for the dramas that the island is experiencing: “I pray for social harmony in the country and I call on everyone to put an end to the violence that is causing so much suffering to that beloved population,” said the Pontiff.

The words of Monsignor Dumas

The Pope’s heartfelt request was followed by that of Monsignor Pierre-André Dumas, bishop of Anse-à-Veau-Miragoâne and vice president of the Episcopal Conference, who, through the microphones of Vatican Radio, had made it known that he wanted to offer himself as a hostage in exchange for the nuns. “Kidnapping women who dedicate their lives to saving the poor and young people is a gesture that will see the judgment of God,” added the prelate, stigmatizing the kidnapping, which joins the numerous episodes of violence that hurt the face of the country.

In a note released today, Dumas also thanked the Lord for the release of the eight hostages: “This traumatic event,” he wrote, “has once again tested our faith, but it remains unshakable. We have ‘cried out’ to God,” he continued, and ‘He has made us strong in our trials and has restored our captives to freedom. He has converted hardened hearts and will free Haiti from all evil, so that all its children will know the joy of priceless freedom.’ “The Church remains committed to the advent of an era of justice and peace in Haiti.”

The Haitian Church in prayer

The Haitian Catholic Church itself organized yesterday, January 24, a day of prayer, meditation and Eucharistic adoration for the nuns and all the kidnapped people. “Let them stop trampling on the inalienable dignity of the children of God!” wrote in a joint note Archbishop Mesidor and Father Morachel Bonhomme, president of the Conference of Religious of Haiti, inviting all the Haitian faithful to “organize a chain of incessant prayers” for the release of the kidnapped. Today, then, the good news of liberation.