Persecution has led to evangelization, Equatorial Guinea’s leading prelate says
June 17, 2024
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CWN Editor's Note: Pope Francis received the bishops of Equatorial Guinea in a June 14 audience.
On the eve of the audience, Bishop Juan Domingo-Beka Esono Ayang of Mongomo, president of the episcopal conference, discussed the persecution of the Church under the brutal dictatorship of Francisco Macías Nguema.
“We have experienced the persecution of the Church, but this has led to a new impulse of evangelization,” the prelate said. “Catechists have been imprisoned and suffered all forms of humiliation. But their testimony has brought and continues to bring something new and lively to the Church in our country.”
The Central African nation of 1.7 million (map) is 90% Christian (84% Catholic) and 4% Muslim. Since 1979, when the persecution ended, the number of priests in the nation has increased from 31 to 220.
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