A missionary, sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argoti, who was kidnapped in southern Mali in 2017 February and detained for nearly five years, described the years in captivity as “spiritually transformative” and a blessing in her life.
The Colombian nun, kidnapped by a jihadist group, narrated her experience in the prologue to the 2023 edition of the Report on Religious Freedom in the World, published by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) on 22 June.
“Without a doubt, it has been one of the experiences that has transformed my life the most spiritually. Today, looking back, I believe that, although it sounds paradoxical, it may have been one of the greatest blessings that God has given me,” said the nun, from the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, in the report on Christian persecution, which she painted a bleak picture of Africa.
In that sense, he pointed out that writing the report’s foreword was an opportunity to speak out against religious intolerance and Christian persecution.
“I am aware of the importance of talking about this fundamental right, religious freedom, to guarantee its protection, especially in a polarized society in which violations committed against the freedom to profess religious beliefs are tried to be swept under the rug,” he shares in the foreword to the ACN Report.
In that sense, he adds that his mission in Mali and his experience with jihadists in the West African country taught him the importance of love and respect, regardless of religious affiliation.
He also remembers having shared his captivity with two women: a Muslim and a Protestant, and adds: “I have learned that if we love, accept and respect each other we can live as brothers and sisters.”
Accepting oneself, he clarified, does not mean giving up one’s own beliefs, “because true respect consists in listening, welcoming and thanking each one for being who they are.”
Sister Gloria began working in the Muslim-majority country in 2010, reaching out primarily to women.
In the prologue, he claims that it was the sisterly nature of his congregation that made the people of Mali so fond of the missionaries.
“The Muslims of the community in which we served admired us for two things: constant prayer and open brotherhood. They always saw us united and praying, working for others, with kindness, despite the discomforts or precarious conditions, with a permanent smile and closeness. Differences of ethnicity, class, or religion made no difference to us; we treated everyone with love”, says the Colombian nun.
The sister affirms that she experienced the same love in the Muslim families that invited the missionaries to participate in important events, such as the celebrations at the end of Ramadan.
“They invited us to their homes to celebrate it, and they always treated us with great kindness,” says Sister Gloria, adding: “There were no closed doors or walls. At the same time, this gave us the opportunity to evangelize in our own way, since we told them that our work and our fraternal relationship with different people was not the work of this or that sister, but that everything was done thanks to God, who is the one who gives all blessings.”
However, he explains, for the kidnappers brotherly love was a language they never understood, so in his captivity the brotherhood he had experienced during his missionary work vanished.
“Freedom – not only physical, which allowed me to move without restrictions – became just a word, an immense longing. With the passage of time —and perhaps because of what I had previously experienced, in continuous affectionate, respectful, and kind contact with people of all religious denominations and from all walks of life—, I realized that I had not only lost my own freedom, but also also my religious freedom”, narrates the Colombian nun.
Thus, in numerous cases she was singled out, beaten and insulted for professing her Catholic faith. In addition, she experienced adverse circumstances, including bad weather, daily abuse, humiliation, and deprivation of food and water.
However, his faith remained unshakable. “Never — not once — did I stop giving thanks to God for having allowed me to wake up and be alive in the midst of so many difficulties and dangers: how can I not praise you, bless you and thank you, my God? Because you have filled me with peace in the face of insults and ill-treatment!”
Sister Gloria Narváez was released on October 9, 2021, and eight months after her release, she is still praying for the conversion of her captors.