The May 26 abduction of Father Matthias Opara was the latest in a series of kidnappings that have targeted members of the clergy in Africa’s most populous nat.
Father Matthias Opara was freed May 28, 2023, after spending three days in captivity in Nigeria s Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri. / Credit: Catholic Archdiocese of OwerriACI Africa, May 30, 2023 / 12:30 pm (CNA).Father Matthias Opara, a Nigerian Catholic priest who was abducted on May 26 while returning from a funeral, has been released.The parish priest of Holy Ghost Obosima Catholic Parish of Owerri Archdiocese in Nigeria regained his freedom on Pentecost Sunday, May 28, the chancellor of the Nigerian Metropolitan See, Father Patrick Mbarah, announced in a statement. "We thank God almighty for his infinite mercy and for answering our prayers," said Mbarah, who also thanked the people of God for their "fraternal solidarity and prayers.""To God be the glory," Mbarah added.In an earlier statement following the abduction of Opara, Mbarah said the local ordinary of Owerri, Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, had directed him to appeal for prayers for the r
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