Twelve Months, German Catholic Missionary Priest Kidnapped in Mali Still Missing

Bamako, 23 November, 2023 / 9:30 PM

Twelve months have gone by since the disappearance of Fr. Hans-Joachim Lohre, a member of the Society of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers), who was taken away in a suspected kidnapping incident in Bamako, the capital of Mali.

In a note shared with ACI Africa Wednesday, November 22, an official of the Congregation has said that the whereabouts of the German Catholic Priest who disappeared on 20 November 2022 are still unknown.

“We still don't know how he is doing, and we pray for his liberation,” Fr. Pawel Hulecki, the Assistant General of the White Fathers, has said about the missing Priest.

Fr. Hans-Joachim was taken away as he was preparing to celebrate Holy Mass in a church in the capital city of the West African nation.

His car was found abandoned and the cross he always carried with him was on the ground near the car.

According to Catholic pontifical organization, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Fr. Hans-Joachim, also known among his friends as Ha-Jo, was an important reference person for interreligious dialogue, teaching at the Institute of Christian-Islamic Education.

ACN announced in February that it was following the situation of the missing Catholic Missionary Priest, with prayers for his safe release.

According to ACN, Fr. Hans-Joachim had for over three decades been a keen champion of religious cohesion in Mali.

The foundation highlighted the Catholic Priest’s deep commitment to inter-religious dialogue in Mali, recalling how he had, for long, been the foundation’s contact person in the West African nation, and had taken part in several events hosted by the Pontifical charity foundation.

During a visit to Switzerland, Fr. Hans-Joachim is said to have expressed his fear concerning religious extremism in Mali, saying, “The jihadists come in groups, on motorcycles, and the local communities have to make deals with them. They are forbidden from ringing church bells and drinking alcohol, and women are forced to wear the veil”.

ACN has called attention several times to the situation endured by Christians in the country, namely in Central Mali, where the Katiba Macina jihadist group, linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), operates.

The member of the Society of the Missionaries of Africa, the Pontifical foundation reports, “was well aware of the danger he faced in his work every day.”