Kidnapped priest released in Ivory Coast

A Catholic priest has been kidnapped and subsequently released in Ivory Coast. Fr Richard Kissi, Diocesan Director of Caritas in Abidjan, had been kidnapped in the late morning of 29 March by an armed group while travelling to an area within Abidjan to evacuate seminarians. He was later released on 31 March and has already reached the parish of Notre-Dame de Treichville where he is based.

“In terms of who had abducted him – or why – that isn’t clear at the moment,” says Alistair Dutton, Humanitarian Director at Caritas Internationalis.

Fighting has already begun in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s largest city and seat of power, between supporters of the democratically elected leader Alassane Ouattara and forcesd loyal to incumbent Laurent Gbagbo. Gbagbo has refused to cede power following an election in November of last year.

“We have somewhere in the region of a million people who’ve been displaced as a result of the civil insurrection,” Dutton told Vatican Radio.

Listen to Alistair Dutton’s full interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: