Father Hans Joachim Lohre, a member of the Missionaries of Africa and a project partner of ACN, was last seen in the capital of Mali.
ACN – The Catholic Church in Mali has denounced on Monday the disappearance of Father Hans Joachim Lohre, a German priest belonging to the Missionaries of Africa and part of the Institute of Islamic-Christian Formation (IFIC). Father Lohre has been missing since Sunday morning, when he did not go to the community where he was to celebrate Mass. The priest is a project partner of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), with whom he has collaborated in various pastoral initiatives and interreligious dialogue.
In a «wanted notice» communiqué, the Malian Church explains that the priest, who is also in charge of the Hamdallaye Faith and Reunion Center in Niger, disappeared in the capital, Bamako. According to sources close to the Church, the priest was supposed to have given mass in the community of Kalaban Coura (near the airport of Bamako), but he never appeared.
His car, the sources said, was found parked in the courtyard of the IFIC with the doors open. Yesterday morning, Lohre was alone at the institute because the rest of its members were in the town of Kita to attend an annual pilgrimage.
After calling hospitals and other places where he might be and not finding him, the Catholic Church decided to issue a wanted notice.
The jihadists of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, very active in Mali, periodically carry out kidnappings and the Christian religious community is one of their targets. The last one was that of the Colombian nun Gloria Cecilia Narvaez, kidnapped in February 2017 and released in October 2021.