AFRICA/NIGER - Fr. Armanino: "Fr. Maccalli, a missionary in his church of the poor"

Niamey (Agenzia Fides) - "After all, mission is nothing more than becoming hostages of the poor and the Gospel. Just like God who took Fr. Pierluigi 'hostage'": says to Agenzia Fides Fr. Mauro Armanino, missionary of the Society of African Missions (SMA) in Niamey, commenting on the kidnapping of his confrere Pierluigi Maccalli, which took place on the evening of 17 September. The missionary resided in the village of Bomoanga, "a place not mentioned in the geographical maps of the region", notes Armanino.
The missionary points out that Fr. Maccalli’s room "was open 24 hours a day, to receive visits, the sick and those in need of help. It was not strange that at night someone would knock on his door and he would open it without any hesitation in spite of the tensions in the area", where several armed groups, self-defense groups, were born to fight local crime.
He is - the missionary recalls - the eighth hostage in the Sahel area: the latest in terms of time is a German humanitarian operator, kidnapped last April on the border with Mali, in the same large area where armed groups operate. Armanino concludes: "Pierluigi felt he was a hostage of his people. Of the sick children and those with food problems. He organized international travel to give medical care to those who could not receive them on the spot. And he had begun to gather and accompany young people, adults and families. His church was the church of the poor. This is why he called his church the 'basilica' of the poor". (AP/MA) (Agenzia Fides, 24/9/2018)

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