Scottish Catholic Observer

Jim McGovern, MP for Dundee West, has urged the Congolese government to do all it can to free Fr Jean-Pierre Ndulani, who was kidnapped in October last year.

Shortly after returning to his native Democratic Republic of Congo from Dundee, Fr Ndulani (above) was kidnapped at gunpoint by rebel forces in his war-torn homeland.

The priest had previously spent six years at Dundee’s Wellburn Home, which is run by the Little Sisters of the Poor.  Despite a ransom being paid for Fr Ndulani and two other kidnapped priests they remain captives.

Mr McGovern said that the people of Dundee, who had got to know Fr Ndulani well during his stay in the city, have been ‘deeply hurt’ by the priest’s kidnapping.

“Many in Dundee were deeply hurt by news of his initial kidnap and moved to disbelief that even after a significant ransom had been paid he had still not been released,” Mr McGovern said.

“On the occasions that I met Fr Ndulani I was always struck by his good grace, uncompromising faith and the real connection that he had built up with the Little Sisters of the Poor, residents in the Wellburn Home and the wider Dundee community.”

The MP has also written to the UK’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague, to ask for any assistance the UK Government can provide.