Former Alaska priest believed kidnapped by terrorist group, Alaska Diocese says

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU) – A mass was held Tuesday for a former Fairbanks priest who the Diocese of Fairbanks says was kidnapped while on a mission in Africa.

On Sunday, the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks says it received word from Nigeria that the former Rev. Alphonsus Afina and two companions were taken captive by members of Boko Haram while traveling.

Boko Haram is a self-proclaimed Jihadist militant group that has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States since 2013.

Afina had spent six and a half years in Alaska, spending his time in service to the villages on the Seward Peninsula. He traveled to Nigeria to help build a trauma center in the country for victims of Boko Haram.

The Diocese held a mass on Tuesday where community members gathered to pray for Afina’s safe and immediate release from captivity.

“The turnout was absolutely amazing,” said Rev. Robert Fath, JCL, Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks.

“We put word out [Monday], and in less than 24 hours, we had a couple hundred people gathered at the cathedral here in Fairbanks for a mass to pray for Father Alphonsus, other victims of the Boko Haram, that they be given strength and God willing, they be released back to us to continue their mission.”

No other information about Afina’s condition has been made public since Sunday.

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