VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis on Sunday met a Colombian nun who was freed https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/colombian-nun-held-hostage-mali-since-2017-has-been-freed-presidency-says-2021-10-09 after being kidnapped by Islamist militants in Mali four years ago.
The Vatican said in a statement that Francis met Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez in St. Peter's Basilica just before he celebrated Mass there to open a two-year worldwide consultation https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/colombian-nun-held-hostage-mali-since-2017-has-been-freed-presidency-says-2021-10-09 on the Catholic Church's future.
The Mali presidency announced her release on Saturday but the timing and other details were not clear.
Kidnapping has been a lucrative source of cash for Islamist groups in West Africa's Sahel region, where they are waging an expanding insurgency against national armies, French forces and U.N. peacekeepers.