Pope Leo asked on Sunday for the immediate release of children and staff abducted this week from a Catholic school in Nigeria, one of the worst mass kidnappings ever recorded there.

Terrorists in Nigeria kidnapped students and teachers from St. Mary's school in the northwest of the country on Friday, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said, the latest in a spate of school attacks this week that has forced the government to shut 47 colleges.

CAN said on Saturday it had raised its estimate of those taken from the school to 315 from an earlier estimate of 227, following a "verification exercise."

POPE MAKES HEARTFELT PLEA FOR RELEASE

"I was deeply saddened to learn of the kidnappings of priests, faithful, and students in Nigeria and Cameroon. I feel great pain, especially for the many young men and women who have been abducted and for their anguished families," Pope Leo said at the end of a mass in St. Peter's Square.

"I make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release," he added.

"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."