Sincere, harmonious unity is needed in the world and in the church, Pope Francis told an international association for Catholic priests. “It’s very sad when we find in a presbyterate that this unity doesn’t exist,” and, instead, gossip and backstabbing are the rule, he said.

Students of St Francis Xavier Orientation Seminary, who come from all over South Africa, took a boat trip to the island, where the late President Nelson Mandela and other political activists were imprisoned.

Last month, Fr Maurizio Pallù was kidnapped and held in captivity by bandits. Here the 63-year-old Italian diocesan priest, who serves in Nigeria as a missionary of the Neocatechumenal Way, tells his story of facing fear with hope and prayer.