ABUJA, Nigeria -- Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in north-central Nigeria's Niger state have escaped captivity and are now with their families, the school authority said Sunday, as the pope called for the immediate release of those still missing.

The schoolchildren, aged between 10 and 18, escaped individually between Friday and Saturday, according to the Most Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Niger state and the proprietor of the school.

A total of 253 schoolchildren and 12 teachers are still being held by the kidnappers, Yohanna said in a statement. "We were able to ascertain this when we decided to contact and visit some parents," he added.

Meanwhile, 38 worshippers kidnapped during a deadly church attack in

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