Pope Leo XIV calls for release of kidnapped students and priests

At Sunday prayers, Catholic Pope Leo XIV called for the immediate release of students and priests kidnapped in recent days in Nigeria and Cameroon.

Some 315 students and teachers were abducted on Friday at the St Mary High School in Nigeria’s Niger state.

Meanwhile, six Catholic priests were kidnapped from the Archdiocese of Bamenda in Cameroon, and a Baptist pastor was abducted in the same region.

Speaking in St Peter’s Square on Sunday, the Pope said he had “learned with immense sadness the news of the kidnappings of priests, faithful, and students”.

"I feel deep sorrow, especially for the many abducted boys and girls and their anguished families,” the pontiff said.

He appealed for their immediate release, calling on the “the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to secure their liberation”.

Finally, the Pope invited everyone to pray that churches schools might never be the target of violence.

“Let us pray for these brothers and sisters of ours, that churches and schools may always and everywhere remain places of safety and hope."

The Christian Association of Nigeria says about 50 children kidnapped from the Catholic school have since escaped and have been reunited with their parents.

Friday’s abduction was the latest in a wave of attacks by armed groups targeting vulnerable civilian populations.

The abductions come as US President Donald Trump threatened military action over what he claims is the persecution of Christians by radical Islamists in Nigeria.