AFRICA/GUINEA - "The Church is still a victim of illegal expropriations", denounces the Archbishop of Conakry

Wednesday, 23 September 2020 persecutions  

Conakry (Agenzia Fides) - "We are not faced with new facts. In fact, since the 1960s, the Catholic Church has often been the victim of the illegal expropriation of its assets in many places, throughout the country", said His Exc. Mgr. Vincent Coulibaly, Archbishop of Conakry, in a statement in which denounces the attempted expropriation by force of land belonging to the Church. "With the events of the last few days in Kendoumayah, it can be said that the actions of the past continue even today, although Article 1 of the Constitution of 7 April 2020 states that 'the Republic of Guinea is a secular state'."
In Kendoumaya, 55 km from Conakry, some residents are trying to forcibly wrest a 5-hectare field from the community of the Frères et Sœurs Apostoliques de Saint-Jean. On Sunday 20 September, after causing some unrest, the villagers barricaded the entrance and exit of Kendoumayah to proceed with the subdivision of land belonging to the community of Saint-Jean, whose members were threatened with physical assault.
On August 20, another 35-hectare plot of land belonging to the religious community was occupied, which was divided into lots by some private individuals, despite opposition and letters of complaint sent by the community to the administrative and judicial authorities.
In Kendoumayah, in addition to the community of the Brothers of Saint-Jean, opened in 1993, there is that of the Sisters of Saint-Jean opened in 1995, then that of the Little Sisters of Notre-Dame-de-Guinée opened in 2004 and the Benedict XVI major Seminary which since 2008 has been forming all the priests of the country.
Mgr. Coulibaly accuses "the evil people [who] pull the strings of discord, this action does not in any way promote the peace and security of priests, nuns and seminarians and that of our communities established in Kendoumayah". The Archbishop of Conakry calls for "the end of the subdivision work underway in Kendoumayah, so that tolerance and religious coexistence, the law and the principle of secularism are respected and applied to every citizen of the Country". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 23/9/2020)


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