ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, JULY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The search for kidnapped Father Giancarlo Bossi continues amid prayer vigils being held for his release.
Father Bossi, a missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), was kidnapped from his parish June 10.
The emergence of photographs of the kidnapped priest "has raised hopes," Father Luciano Benedetti told AsiaNews.
He added that things "are proceeding as usual: We are living this long wait in the hope that good news will come soon, and that we will soon know for certain who is behind the kidnapping."
A month later
PIME has called for an international day of prayer to be held July 10, exactly one month after Father Bossi's kidnapping, AsiaNews reported.
The Diocese of Milan offered various Masses last week for Father Bossi, remembering him and all Christians who suffer for the sake of the Gospel.
In Father Bossi's hometown of Abbiategrasso, Italy, a silent torchlight procession took place last week while residents remember him nightly with lit candles in their windowsills, keeping vigil to symbolically guide him to freedom.
In Rome, a prayer meeting was held Friday, presided over by the superior general of PIME, Father Gian Battista Zanchi.
The city of Rome is displaying Father Bossi's photo at City Hall, at the top of the Capitoline Hill, as a way of witnessing the attention and commitment of the country's institutions to his release, while another is on display in Piazza del Campidoglio.
Rome's mayor, Walter Veltroni, said that the gesture "expresses Rome's solidarity and hope that Father Bossi, a missionary who has chosen to dedicate his life to others, may soon be freed."
ZE07070903 - 2007-07-09