Central Africa: “Priests strike” in protest at the resignation of the archbishop of Bangui

On May 28, the priests of Central Africa suspended their “indefinite strike” which they had called the previous day in protest against the imposed resignation of the archbishop of Bangui, Mgr. Paulin Pomodimo, by the Vatican. The Central African press evoked “the crucial question of priestly celibacy”. “In almost all of the dioceses and most of the parishes, the secular and regular clergy maintain a home with a woman and children. If the children do not take their father’s name, out of a sense of propriety, the brothers and sisters of the priest are there to care for them. The Central African Republic is not the only country in this case, but the contagion has affected every other African state,” writes bluntly the independent daily of Bangui Le Confident.

Concerning this affair, the diocesan priests of the Republic of Central Africa have condemned “the hold some expatriate missionaries have in all the levels of responsibility of the Church of Central Africa.” They note that the Vatican had named “without prior dialogue”, Fr. Dieudonné Nzapa-La-Ayinga, as apostolic administrator of Bangui. The priests have suspended their “strike”, “but we still contest the nomination of Fr. Nzapa-La-Ayinga ,” Fr. Mathurin Pazé Lékissan told AFP.

Mgr. Paulin Pomodimo had replaced, in July 2003, Mgr. Joachim Ndayen, archbishop of Bangui for 33 years. The announcement of his resignation – following a Vatican enquiry last March, carried out by Mgr. Robert Sarah, Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, who also relieved many other diocesan priests of their duties, who were not living in accordance with the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience – has provoked a stir within the local clergy.

Quoting a “source close to the Catholic Church”, the Central African Press Agency (ACAP) stated that “the Holy See has repudiated the diocesans in favor of the Holy Ghost fathers.” According to this government press agency, the Central African priests have denounced the hegemony of the expatriate priests over the natives, sparking off a crisis marked by the non-celebration of Masses in the parishes whose priests are Central Africans. During his visit in March, Mgr. Sarah had criticized in particular the priests “who are leading double lives” and invited those who were in such a situation to give up “their priestly ministry.”

Some Central African priests have condemned this, believing furthermore that they are victims of a smear campaign, within and outside the country. As well as Mgr. Pomodimo, Mgr. François-Xavier Yombandje, the bishop of Bossanoa, aged 53 years, was also forced to resign from his pastoral duties on May 16. According to information gathered by the agency I.Media in Rome, these bishops were suspected of associating with women and of having fathered children. Some of the local clergy of Central Africa and the native bishops do not always have a moral attitude in conformity with their priestly or episcopal commitment. Interviewed by the Roman agency, authorized Vatican sources restricted themselves to stating that these dismissals have come about “after insurmountable internal problems in the running of the diocese.” At the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, under whose authority these dioceses lie, it is hoped that these matters will be regulated “discreetly” and refused to comment on this series of resignations. (Sources: Apic/Imedia)