Pope Francis urged on Sunday for the release of six nuns kidnapped in Haiti, a Caribbean country plagued by gang violence.
“I learned with pain of the news of the kidnapping in Haiti of a group of people, among them six religious sisters,” the pontiff said at the end of his weekly Angelus prayer at the Vatican.
“In earnestly asking for their release, I pray for social harmony in the country.
“I invite everyone to stop the violence that causes so much suffering to that dear population.”
According to the Haitian Religious Conference, the country’s association of religious orders, eight people, including six nuns, were kidnapped on Friday while riding a bus in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The incident occurred in the midst of an uptick in kidnappings in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas and currently experiencing a spiraling security crisis.
Pope Francis, 87, also mentioned Sunday the situation in Ecuador, another country dealing with gang violence.
As he addressed the gathering gathered in St Peter’s Square to hear his prayer, the pontiff addressed “the bishops and migrants of Ecuador, to whom I assure my prayers for peace in their country”.
Ecuador, traditionally seen as a stronghold of peace in Latin America, has been thrown into crisis by the rapid growth of transnational cartels that exploit its ports to transport drugs to the United States and Europe.