A Dundee priest who left the city last month to return to his home in war-torn Congo has been kidnapped at gunpoint by rebel forces.
Jean-Pierre Ndulani had been chaplain at Wellburn Home for the Elderly for the past six years and only left his post in September.
He was one of three Catholic priests abducted by armed men from the Notre-Dame des Pauvres Parish Church house in Mbau, 70km from Butmebo in Eastern Congo, on Friday night.
Mother Marie-Aimee, a Little Sister of the Poor and the Superior of Wellburn Convent, said she thought the kidnapping was a hoax. It was not until she realised it had been sent by a close friend of Father Jean-Pierre that she knew it was true.
She said: ”We are all in shock and struggling to take in this horrendous event. Father Jean-Pierre is a wonderful priest and loved by the whole community.
“He is such a kind, caring and holy man. He was kindness itself to all our elderly residents and treated them with such respect.
”We are praying night and day that he and his colleagues will be returned safely to their community.”
Father Jean-Pierre was at home with three colleagues in the parish house in Mbau when they were kidnapped.
They were in the sitting room and another colleague was in his bedroom. He heard voices and thought it was his three colleagues.
Someone knocked on his door, but before he could answer it they locked him in. The other three were abducted.
Father Jean-Pierre’s last public mass in Dundee was on September 22 at St Clement’s. He joined Bishop Vincent Logan and priests from across the Diocese of Dunkeld to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the parish.
It was announced at the end of mass that Father Jean-Pierre was leaving Dundee the next day to return to Congo.
Bishop Vincent Logan said: ”We are all distraught at this news about Father Jean-Pierre and his fellow priests.
“He is a dedicated priest, a man of God for whom any display of violence would be abhorrent. In the six years he spent in our diocese he made an enormous contribution and touched the lives of many people.
”He is loved and respected by priests and people alike. I am praying that he and his colleagues will be found soon, unharmed.
”My prayers, too, are for the members of his order and for Jean-Pierre’s family and the families of his companions. We can only imagine their anguish.
”All of us in Dunkeld are united with them as we hope and pray for Father Jean-Pierre’s safe return.”