Six nuns were kidnapped in the center of Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti, last Friday (19). Now, to free them, the kidnappers, who apparently belong to a criminal group, demand a payment of US$3 million (R$14.7 million).
This demand came after Pope Francis himself requested the release of the nuns and the other two captured people. The kidnapping of these people was condemned by both the Vatican and official institutions in Haiti.
The amount, reported by local media and not officially confirmed, was demanded in exchange for the release of the eight people, including the six nuns from the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne and a driver, who were captured in the center of Avenida Christopher, nearby. of the Presidential Palace.
According to the Haitian Conference of Religious (CHR), the eight people, whose details such as nationality were not revealed, were kidnapped on Friday while heading by bus to an educational center in Port-au-Prince.
“These kidnappings are yet another and fill consecrated people and people of good will in Haiti with sadness and fear”, denounced the CHR in a statement, which invited all Christians in the country to form a prayer chain for those captured.
This Sunday (21), at the end of the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis made an appeal for an end to violence in Haiti, where there is an increase in the actions of armed gangs, as well as the release of people held captive. .
“I received with pain the news of the kidnapping in Haiti of a group of people, including six nuns. In asking for his release, I pray for social harmony in the country,” said the pontiff.
In recent weeks, there has been an increase in kidnappings in Haiti, while in Port-au-Prince attacks by armed gangs against neighborhoods have resumed, causing hundreds of people to flee and a greater number of refugees in displacement camps. (With EFE Agency)
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