Speaking out against ritual killing and witchcraft in Tanzania

The Catholic Society of African Missions (SMA) is well-known for its work promoting justice and peace and for speaking out against human rights abuses times including racial segregation and discrimination, notably the American province of SMA.

Father Cyril Imohiosen, a Nigerian priest who is a SMA Father and a student at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida, followed in the footsteps of his predecessors when speaking at a catholic Mass with Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito marking Black History Month at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Riviera Beach, lashing out against ritual killing and witchcraft practices in Tanzania.

Father Imohiosen is to be commended for raising his voice against these cruel practices in Tanzania. I proves once more that an increasing number of people no longer accept the excrescences of superstition based on ignorance and tolerated – sometimes even encouraged – by powerful people who benefit from it.
(webmaster FVDK)

Bishop Barbarito presides at the Feb. 4, 2023, Mass for Black History Month at St. Francis of Assisi Church, Riviera Beach, Florida (USA). COURTESY

Christians must be ‘light in the darkness’ – speaking out against ritual killing in Tanzania

SMA Father Cyril Imohiosen speaks Feb. 4, 2023, at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Riviera Beach.
COURTESY

Published: February 16, 2023
By: William Cone, Florida Catholic Media Staff – Florida Catholic, Palm Beach, Florida, USA

RIVIERA BEACH  |  At a Feb. 4, 2023, Mass with Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito marking Black History Month at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Riviera Beach, a visiting priest presented a call to action for those thirsting for rights, justice and peace.

Father Cyril Imohiosen, a Nigerian priest who is a member of the Society of African Missions and a student at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, urged parishioners in his homily to reach out to neighbors and be a positive influence in their communities and workplaces.

Speaking about his challenging experiences as a missionary in Tanzania, Father Imohiosen recalled incidences of ritual killing and elderly women being accused of witchcraft in order to steal their possessions.

“As a missionary, I had to speak out against this,” he said. “I had to shelter and protect these poor women and children from extortion, injustice, … Just as Martin Luther King never remained silent, the prophet invites us to speak out. Dear friends, are you speaking against all these or are you a perpetrator encouraging them? What is your relationship like with the people that live in your neighborhood? How sensitive are you to them? As we celebrate our love, our togetherness and our heritage as a people, let us listen to the voice of the prophet today.”

In the day’s first reading (Is 58:7-10), the prophet Isaiah tells the people of Israel to share their bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and homeless, and remove persecution from their midst.

“As he speaks to the Israelites, he speaks to each of us today,” Father Imohiosen said. “He invites us to be our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper. He invites us to live a life of justice. He invites us to live a life of love. He invites us to live a life of forgiveness and righteousness in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Regardless of where we come from, our race, our inclination, etc., we are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Connecting the Gospel reading (Mt 5:13-16) to societal needs, he encouraged all to be salt and light in the world.

“The presence of Christians in the world must be like light in the darkness,” Father Imohiosen said. “The light allows others to witness the acts of justice and love that followers of Christ perform. Just as a few grains of salt can make a big difference in food, so also a few faithful Christians can make a big difference in the world with their shining lights.”

For more information on St. Francis of Assisi Parish, which will celebrate its 75th anniversary March 18-19, visit https://stfrancisofassisi1948.org, on Facebook at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church – Riviera Beach, FL or call 561-842-2482.

Source: Christians must be ‘light in the darkness’

Catholic officials decry resurgence of death penalty in southern Africa

The focus of today’s posting is not on ritualistic murders or comparable and related crimes, such as kidnapping, torture a.s.o. However, the topic is related: in more than one African country, the public and also the authorities want the introduction and the carrying out of the death penalty for convicted perpetrators of ritual killings both as a deterrent to prevent future crimes and as a justified revenge of the community for the senseless loss of life of one of its members.

It is a controversial topic, as will be clear from the article below. Whereas many African countries have abolished the capital punishment, there seems to be a resurgence of the death penalty in various parts of Africa, notably in southern Africa (Botswana, Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe), but also in West Africa (Nigeria e.g.). Recently, Catholic officials across the continent have rejected the increasing calls for the introduction of the death penalty, saying “The death sentence cannot be a solution, especially considering how poor our justice system still is across most of Africa.”

The latter argument makes sense. There are more reasons to defend the abolishment of the death penalty. However, supporters hold the opposite view for reasons cited above.

Whatever the position is, in favor of or against the death penalty, the article reproduced below shows one more time the ugly practice of ritualistic murders in Southern Africa.  

More on the killing of people with albinism in Malawi in a few days time (webmaster FVDK).

Catholic officials decry resurgence of death penalty in southern Africa

Boniface Chibwana, coordinator for the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace of Malawi’s bishop’s conference (Provided photo)

Published: March 15, 2021
By: National Catholic Reporter – Tawande Karombo

HARARE, ZIMBABWE — Catholic officials and human rights campaigners across Africa are reiterating their opposition to capital punishment after Botswana carried out two executions for murder convictions in February.

Botswana, located north of South Africa, confirmed the executions of 33-year-old Wedu Mosalagae and 29-year-old Kutlo Setima on Feb. 8. Both had been found guilty in separate cases of killing a woman.

Oluwatosin Popoola, a legal advisor for Amnesty International on death penalty issues, told NCR that the organization is “very concerned” about the executions, especially as they are the fifth and sixth since President Mokgweetsi Masisi came into office in 2019.

This as “a high number for Botswana within a 16-month period and an indication that the country is not relenting in its adherence” to the use of the death penalty, said Popoola.

“The recent executions are regressive and they slow down Africa’s push against the death penalty,” said Popoola. “There is no unique imperative for any country to use the death penalty.”

Although many African nations have abolished use of the death penalty in the past decade — including Guinea, Benin, the Republic of the Congo and Madagascar — Botswana’s government claims it can be a good deterrent to prevent violent crimes.

In nearby Malawi, proponents say it prevents the murdering of people with albinism for ritual purposes. Amnesty international said earlier in February that more than 20 murders of people with albinism have been committed in Malawi since 2014.

In 2019, three Malawians were sentenced to death for the killing of a person with albinism. (See tomorrow’s posting – FVDK). But the country has not carried out any death sentence since 1994, joining other countries such as Zimbabwe that have been imposing death sentences but not carrying out executions.

Boniface Chibwana, coordinator for the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace of Malawi’s bishop’s conference, told NCR he thinks African Catholic officials can be doing more to drum up support for the dropping of the death penalty across the continent.

“To deter crimes such as murder, the church needs to progressively and actively socialize the young using the human rights approach, so that many of its followers should grow in Christ while respecting the human rights culture to build societies where such rights as the protection of life are a norm,” he said.

In 2019, there was a 53% jump in death sentence convictions across sub-Saharan Africa compared to 212 convictions a year earlier. These death sentences resulted from murder convictions in Kenya, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Popoola said Chad, which borders Libya, Niger and Sudan, was the latest country in Africa to abolish the death penalty for all crimes.

In South Africa, there have been calls for the restoration of the death penalty from some sections of society, especially as gender-based violence and killings of women increase. South Africa abolished capital punishment in 1995.

Fr. Dumisani Vilakati, director of the regional conference of Catholic bishops across southern Africa, told NCR that the church is often blamed for not being vocal enough against the death penalty. But he said the church “is part of the solution” for the promotion of the right to life, from conception to natural death.

“Here in Africa, we have to put the death penalty in the pro-life scheme that has been espoused by Pope Francis,” said Vilakati.

“We are a church that preaches conversion of human beings, and we believe that people can change for the better,” said the priest. “The death sentence cannot be a solution, especially considering how poor our justice system still is across most of Africa.”

Vilakati explained that there have been numerous wrongful convictions across the continent, and inmates are increasingly having to wait longer and longer for their trials to be conducted.

“What we need to do as a society is to educate people, and the church should play its role in espousing the sanctity of life [rather] than having society eliminating people through death penalty,” said Vilakati. “We should be pro-life and give people a second chance.”

Source: Catholic officials decry resurgence of death penalty in southern Africa

Map of Southern Africa