CHRISTMAS PRAYERS of hope were said on Sunday for the Dundee priest who has been kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Father Jean-Pierre Ndulani was chaplain to Wellburn Home, run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, for six years and left his post in September to return to his homeland.
He was one of three priests abducted at gunpoint by armed men from the Notre-Dame des Pauvres Parish Church house in Mbau, 70km from Butmebo, in the east of the country, in October.
There has been no information about them since they were captured, and at mass in the Wellburn chapel yesterday, special prayers were said for Father Jean-Pierre and his fellow captives from the Order of the Augustinians of the Assumption.
Mother Aimee, Superior of the Little Sisters of the Poor, said, “We continue to pray for Father Jean-Pierre and his colleagues.
“I can’t help but think of him last Christmas when he was with us.
“He said Christmas morning mass for us and was such a part of our celebrations in the home.
“He spent time with the residents and had Christmas dinner with them. He is loved by them and he was so happy to be with them.
“Our Christmas celebrations this year are undoubtedly tinged with sorrow at the fate of our beloved Father Jean-Pierre and he will have a very special place in the thoughts and prayers of all of us in Wellburn.”
Bishop Vincent Logan, Bishop Emeritus of Dunkeld, said: “Father Jean-Pierre and his colleagues will have a special place in my prayers this Christmas.
“Christmas is a time for families and I will remember especially his family, his community and the family of the church in the Congo, all of whom are suffering at this time.
“As time goes on, and nothing is heard from their captors, of course we are becoming increasingly concerned for his safety and that of his fellow priests,” he went on.
“But we will continue to pray for Father Jean-Pierre and his colleagues and we will not give up hope that those who abducted them will have a change of heart and return them safely to those who love them.”
A ransom note was delivered to the authorities after the kidnapping, but there have been no reports since of whether that has been paid or ignored.
Father Ndulani has a condition which requires daily treatment and his former parishioners are concerned that he will not have received any medication since the abduction.
Authorities where he was kidnapped said they are worried about the “serious health condition’’ of one of the churchmen in the war-torn area of North Kivu.
The Foreign Office are aware of the case but they have had no direct involvement, as Father Jean-Pierre is Congolese and is not a UK national.
Our calls to the Democratic Republic of Congo Embassy in London went unanswered.
aargo@thecourier.co.uk