An invitation to peace that comes through the silence of prayer and the power of testimony.
This evening, the Benedict XVI Hall of the Archbishop's Curia hosted the Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace, promoted by the Italian Episcopal Conference in response to the conflicts that continue to ravage the Middle East and other parts of the world. "Let us begin again with prayer," said Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi, who opened the meeting in the Seminary chapel and welcomed the testimony of Father Pier Luigi Maccalli, a missionary of the Society of African Missions, kidnapped in Niger in 2018 and freed after more than two years of captivity in the Sahel desert.
His is an intense story, marked by suffering but also by hope. "I saw the ugly face of war. I was a hostage, an innocent victim. For over two years I suffered loneliness, I was shackled with iron chains. But I also had the opportunity to understand the essential value of peace." During the meeting, Maccalli showed one of the videos filmed by his captors during negotiations for his release, the only evidence of his life released after a year and a half of captivity. "I remember that moment well: it was midday, the wind was blowing strongly. They asked me to remove my turban to show my face." That video, viewed by his family on April 6, 2020, "rekindled hope." The missionary also retraced the evening of his kidnapping. "I had left for Niger in 2007 and lived in a small village, where I had learned the local language by living with the people. One evening, I was already in my pajamas when I found myself facing a dozen men with rifles pointed at me." Blindfolded and taken away on a motorbike, he was driven into the desert where he remained a prisoner for 752 days.
"I saw the moon twenty-five times, and each time I hoped it would be my last." Liberation came on October 8, 2020. "When they were leading me to freedom, I said to the leader who was overseeing the final negotiations: God help us understand one day that we are all brothers." And today, looking back on that experience, he says: "I have no grudges, I have no nightmares, I feel at peace."
The event is part of the ecclesial journey leading to the Day of Missionary Martyrs, celebrated annually on March 24, and calls upon the Christian community to cherish the memory of those who gave their lives for the Gospel, supporting the Church's mission in the world with prayer and solidarity.