By SCM Staff Writer I Sunday, Nov.23.25
THE VATICAN – POPE LEO has made a dramatic, tearful plea for the immediate release of 315 Catholic students and priests snatched by gunmen in a terrifying mass kidnapping from St. Mary Catholic School in Nigeria.
The Holy Father revealed his personal “great pain” over the abduction, which saw hundreds of young boys and girls dragged out of the Catholic school dormitory in the dead of night.
Speaking from the Vatican, Leo made a “heartfelt appeal” for the victims, who were seized on Friday in the latest act of violence targeting the West African nation’s education system.
“I learned with immense sadness the news of the kidnappings of students and priests in Nigeria,” the Pope said, his voice heavy with emotion.
He added: “I feel great pain about the kidnapping of students and priests in Nigeria and I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages.”
The shock raid took place at St. Mary’s School, where armed criminals stormed the campus and bundled the 315 victims into the bush. The appalling tally includes both students and teaching staff, throwing their families and the entire Catholic community into despair.
The horrific kidnapping at St. Mary’s School is part of a dark and escalating crisis in Nigeria, where mass abduction has become a brutal business for criminal gangs.
The Targets: Schools, churches, and highways have increasingly become “soft targets.”
These attacks are often carried out by heavily armed groups known locally as “bandits,” who operate from vast, unpoliced forests and demand huge ransoms for the victims’ release.
They are driven mostly by financial gain, although some are linked to Islamist extremist groups.
The current surge in school raids echoes the infamous 2014 kidnapping of 276 Chibok schoolgirls by the Boko Haram terrorist group, a tragedy that focused the world’s attention on Nigeria’s crisis.
Since then, thousands of students have been seized, forcing many regional governors to close schools indefinitely due to the lack of security.
The Church:
Catholic priests and religious figures are deliberately targeted, often due to the perception that the Church or their communities will pay large sums of money for their safe return.
This sustained pattern of attacks has led the Catholic community in Nigeria to mourn dozens of murdered or missing priests and seminarians in the last decade alone, reflecting a widespread breakdown of security and order across the country.
