Contacted for comment on the day of the release, the Society of the Missionaries of Africa told ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, that “we shall have time” to provide an update on Lohre’s situation.
Asked to confirm the media reports about the release of Lohre, Father Didier Sawadogo, the provincial of the West Africa Province of the missionary congregation, added in a note shared with ACI Africa: “We are waiting for confirmation.”
Earlier, Father Pawel Hulecki, the assistant general of the White Fathers, had asked for prayers for their kidnapped confrere, saying that his whereabouts were still unknown.
“We still don’t know how he is doing, and we pray for his liberation,” Hulecki said about Lohre in a Nov. 23 report.
Lohre was taken away as he was preparing to celebrate Mass in a church in the capital city of the West African nation.
His car was found abandoned and the cross he always carried with him was on the ground near the car.