Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, November 23, 2025, called for the immediate release of over 300 hostages comprising students and teachers who were violently abducted from Catholic schools in Niger State, Nigeria.
The hostages were taken during a brutal assault on St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Agwarra local government area of Niger State, in the early hours of Friday.
Gunmen, reportedly arriving on over 60 motorcycles and accompanied by a van, stormed the private Catholic school, where they shot and seriously injured the school’s gatekeeper before carrying out the mass abduction.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State chapter, confirmed the total number of victims is 315, following a verification exercise.
The attack occurred despite claims of prior intelligence warnings, which the Catholic Diocese has since refuted, stating they received no official circular from the government or security agencies asking them to shut down.
Speaking at the end of the Angelus prayer, Pope Leo XIV expressed his “immense sadness” over the kidnappings in both Nigeria and Cameroon, and issued a “heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages.”
He specifically conveyed his “deep sorrow, especially for the many young boys and girls kidnapped and for their anguished families,” and asked the faithful to pray that “churches and schools may always and everywhere remain places of safety and hope.”
