Priest kidnapped by Islamists to attend Pope’s meeting with young people in Loreto

Rome, Italy, Jul 24, 2007 / 10:46 am

The secretary general of the Bishops’ Conference of Italy, Bishop Giuseppe Betori, said Father Giancarlo Bossi, who was kidnapped last June 10 by Muslims in the Philippines and freed on July 20, will attend a meeting that Pope Benedict XVI will have with young people in Loreto in September in order to share his testimony.

“It was the desire of the organizing committee to invite Father Bossi to Loreto, and the door was left open for him to share his testimony to Pope Benedict XVI and the young people in attendance,” he said.

“The availability expressed now by Father Bossi, just a few hours after his liberation, is welcomed by all with great joy, since his courageous experience as a missionary could inspire the hearts of so many young people who are searching to find someone who, like Father Bossi, makes the Gospel the reason for their existence and the source of their hope in the midst of everyone else,” Bishop Bettori said.