«At the moment we do not know anything about the condition or about the possible release of Father Pierluigi Maccalli who was kidnapped on September 17. No request has been made,” a source of the local Church in Niamey told Fides News Agency, which reported on the situation on September 24, 2018. »
Fides also reported that the Muslim leaders of Niger express firm condemnation over the abduction of Fr. Pierluigi and ask for his immediate release, as stated by an appeal relaunched by the Interreligious Committee of Niger in favor of the kidnapped missionary. This is what the Curia of the Society for African Missions (SMA) in Genoa said to Fides, talking about information that the SMA confreres received in Niger.
The appeal sent to Fides reports: «The National Committee for Inter-and Intra-religious Dialogue (CDIR) of Niger strongly condemns the unjust and criminal kidnapping of the Italian priest of Bomoanga. It has no other purpose than to obscure and ruin the climate of peace and peaceful coexistence that has always prevailed among the religions in our Nigerian society». The text continues: «Fr. Pier Luigi Maccalli is a man of peace, a great man of God at the service of Niger for more than 10 years. He was kidnapped in his church by strangers between Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 September in Bomoanga, near the border between Niger and Burkina Faso. May God Almighty assist him in this terrible trial».
