Pope Leo XIV called on Sunday for the immediate release of more than 300 students and teachers who were abducted this week in one of the largest mass kidnappings to hit Nigeria in recent years.

“I learned with immense sadness the news of the kidnappings of priests, faithful, and students in Nigeria and Cameroon,” the pontiff said during his address at the end of the Angelus prayer at the Vatican. He expressed “deep sorrow, especially for the many young boys and girls kidnapped and for their anguished families,” urging the international community to pray for their safe return.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) announced that armed groups carried out coordinated raids on two schools, abducting hundreds. The violence began on Monday when gunmen stormed a secondary school in Kebbi State and kidnapped 25 girls. That attack was followed by a mass abduction early Friday at St. Mary’s co-education school in Niger State, where dozens of students and teachers were taken.

Attacks escalating in Nigeria

Authorities also reported an attack on a church in western Nigeria in which two people were killed and dozens abducted. The surge in violence comes as US President Donald Trump threatens military action over what he has described as the persecution of Christians by radical groups in Nigeria.

Nigeria continues to grapple with the trauma of the 2014 Boko Haram mass kidnapping in Chibok, where nearly 300 schoolgirls were taken. Many of those children remain missing more than a decade later.

“Let us pray for these brothers and sisters of ours and that churches and schools may always and everywhere remain places of safety and hope,” Pope Leo said, as calls mount for swift action to secure the hostages’ release.