Editing Catholic Church in Liberia

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

{{Catholic Church sidebar|size=large}}

In 2020, there were approximately 348,000 Catholics in [[Liberia]] (7.52% of the population).<ref>[https://www.catholicsandcultures.org/liberia]

Catholics and Culture website, retrieved 2023-08-08</ref> There are 3 dioceses including 1 [[archdiocese]]:<ref>[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/country/dlr2.html ''Catholic Hierarchy'' website, retrieved 2023-08-28]</ref>

**[[Roman Catholic Diocese of Cape Palmas|Cape Palmas]] (located in [[Harper, Liberia|Harper, Maryland County]])

** [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Gbarnga|Gbarnga]] (located in [[Gbarnga|Gbargna, Bong County]])

[[Lewis Jerome Zeigler]] was the archbishop until 2021; in 2023, the seat is vacant.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Americo-Liberian settlers were to be found on the seacoast and at the mouths of the two most important rivers. Of the native tribes, the principal are the Veys, the Pessehs, the Barlines, the Bassas, the Kru, the Grebo, and the Mandingos. The converts came chiefly from the Kru and the Grebo. Methodist, [[Baptist]], [[Presbyterian]]s, and [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopalian]] missions had been established in the country for many years with scant results at the beginning of the 19th century.

As a number of the first American colonists were Catholics from Maryland and the adjoining states, they eventually caught the attention of the [[Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples]] and the second Provincial Council of Baltimore in 1833 undertook to meet the difficulty of sending missionaries to serve the local faithful. In accordance with the measures taken, Rev. Edward Barron, Vicar-General of Philadelphia, Rev. John Kelly of New York, and Denis Pindar, a lay catechist from Baltimore, volunteered for the mission and sailed for Africa from Baltimore on 2 December 1841. They arrived there safe and Father Barron serve the first Mass at [[Cape Palmas]] on 10 February 1842. After a time, finding that he did not receive missionaries enough to accomplish anything practical, Father Barron returned to the [[United States]], and thence went to [[Rome]] where he was made on 22 January 1842, Vicar Apostolic of the Two Guineas, and titular Bishop of Constantia.

With seven priests of the [[Holy Ghost Fathers|Congregation of the Holy Ghost]], he returned to Liberia, arriving at Cape Palmas on 30 November 1843. Five of these priests died on the mission of fever, to which Denis Pindar, the lay catechist, also fell a victim,on 1 January 1844. Bishop Barron and Father Kelly held out for two years, and then, wasted by fever, they determined to return to the United States, feeling that it was impossible to withstand the climate any longer. Bishop Barron died of yellow fever during an epidemic at Savannah, Georgia,on 12 September 1854, and Father Kelly died at Jersey City, New Jersey,on 28 April 1866.

The Fathers of the Holy Ghost, who took up the work, were also forced by the climate to abandon it in a couple of years, and the permanent mission lapsed until 25 February 1884. The [[Company of Mary|Fathers of Montfort]] (Company of Mary), under Fathers Blanchet and Lorber, then laid the foundation of another mission at [[Monrovia]]. The President of the Republic, Mr. Johnson, and the people generally gave them a cordial welcome, because of its emphasis on providing a thorough education, but the sectarian ministers organized a cabal against them, and endeavoured to thwart all their efforts to spread the Catholic faith. They made some progress in spite of this, and in the following year, having received reinforcements from France, opened a school for boys and extended their operations into other places. Father Bourzeix learned the native language, in which he compiled a catechism and translated a number of hymns. Deaths among the missionaries and the health of the others shattered by fever forced these priests also to abandon the Liberia mission. After this it was visited occasionally by missionaries from Sierra Leone until 1906, when the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples handed its care over to the [[Society of African Missions]] from [[Lyon]], and three Irish priests, Fathers Stephen Kyne, Joseph Butler, and Dennis O'Sullivan, with two French assistants, continued to work among the 2800 Catholics the vicariate was estimated to contain in 1910.<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Liberia}}</ref>

Diplomatic relations between the [[Holy See]] and Liberia were established in 1927, celebrated by a spectacular and massive march through the streets of Monrovia on the feast of [[Christ the King]], which subsequently boosted registration in Catholic schools and a lasting foundation of Catholicism.<ref>Burrowes, Carl Patrick. Power and press freedom in Liberia, 1830–1970: the impact of globalization and civil society on media-government relations, p. 130. Africa World Press, 2004. {{ISBN|1-59221-294-8}}</ref>

Under the [[dictatorship]]s of [[William Tubman]] up to [[Samuel Doe]], the Catholic Church continued its work in education and with the poor, as well as using its voice to denounce abuses and corruption under the different dictatorial regimes. The Catholic Church was seen as more trustworthy than other churches because its peculiar mode of financing and hierarchy did not leave it at the government's mercy. Its financing came "predominantly from giant German agencies which would simply cease contributing if previous grants were not scrupulously accounted for." Because it did not include high-ranking government officials, and because of the Catholic episcopal authority (prelates were not elected for just a few years), the Church benefited from a great freedom of expression, which it used wisely to denounce the government when necessary, using "machinery for public comment on national issues" with the Lenten or Advent Pastoral Letters. Archbishop [[Michael Kpakala Francis]] in his first letter written in 1977, denounced corruption in these words:

{{Blockquote|"It is not too late to stop this ugly trend of [[Political corruption|corruption]] in our country. We are proud to call ourselves [[Christians|Christian]], but can we honestly do so if corrupt practices are the normal things in our lives?"<ref>Cited in Gifford, Paul. Christianity and politics in Doe's Liberia, p. 56. ''Cambridge University Press, 2002''. {{ISBN|0-521-52010-X}}</ref>| First Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Francis, 1977}}

{{Blockquote|"[[Violence]] has no place in a just government. Violence destroys the very fabric of society, foments hatred and brings about hostility where there should be [[love]]"<ref>Cited in Gifford, Paul. Christianity and politics in Doe's Liberia, pp. 72–73. ''Cambridge University Press, 2002''. {{ISBN|0-521-52010-X}}</ref>|Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter on "The Liberian Situation", 1980}}

During the [[First Liberian Civil War|1989–1997 Liberian Civil War]], many churches and religious centres were used as shelters. Priests and religious were also the target of violence and many were killed.<ref>[http://www.theinformer-lr.com/oneadmin/newspublish/samplenewspublish.php?news_id=3394&start=0&category_id=0&parent_id=0&pageaction2=searchnews&searchby=bykey&searchkey=catholic&datesearch= US Embassy Remembers Five Slain Catholic Nuns, Church Wants War Crimes Court In Liberia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717003717/http://www.theinformer-lr.com/oneadmin/newspublish/samplenewspublish.php?news_id=3394&start=0&category_id=0&parent_id=0&pageaction2=searchnews&searchby=bykey&searchkey=catholic&datesearch=# |date=17 July 2011 }}. [http://www.theinformer-lr.com/index.php ''The Informer''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609133450/http://www.theinformer-lr.com/index.php# |date=9 June 2009 }} (Monrovia). 16-07-2008. Obtained 31-06-09.</ref> The Catholic Church in Liberia has on many occasions renewed its appeal for a War Crimes Court to be set up, "in an effort to enhance the justice system against individuals who commit atrocities against Liberians", as reconciliation must come with justice.<ref>Toe, Jerome. [http://www.theinformer-lr.com/oneadmin/newspublish/samplenewspublish.php?news_id=3343&start=0&category_id=0&parent_id=0&pageaction2=searchnews&searchby=bykey&searchkey=catholic&datesearch= Catholic Prelate Calls For War Crimes Court] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717003937/http://www.theinformer-lr.com/oneadmin/newspublish/samplenewspublish.php?news_id=3343&start=0&category_id=0&parent_id=0&pageaction2=searchnews&searchby=bykey&searchkey=catholic&datesearch=# |date=17 July 2011 }}. [http://www.theinformer-lr.com/index.php ''The Informer''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609133450/http://www.theinformer-lr.com/index.php# |date=9 June 2009 }} (Monrovia). 16-07-2008. Obtained 30-06-09.</ref>

In 2009, as part of its effort "to complement government and global efforts to create an increased awareness on the prevention of the [[HIV/AIDS|HIV and AIDS]] pandemic", the Catholic Heath Secretariat of the Diocese of Gbarnga in Liberia renewed the local Church's commitment and perseverance by organizing "intense HIV/AIDs awareness and sensitization campaigns in [[Bong County]]".<ref>[http://allafrica.com/stories/200906190615.html Liberia: Catholic Church Intensifies Crusade On HIV/Aids in Bong]. [http://www.theinformer-lr.com/index.php ''The Informer''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609133450/http://www.theinformer-lr.com/index.php# |date=9 June 2009 }} (Monrovia). 19-06-2009. Obtained 30-06-09.</ref>

==See also==

*[[Religion in Liberia]]

{{Reflist}}

{{Africa topic|Catholic Church in|groupstyle=background-color:gold|titlestyle=background-color:gold}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catholic Church in Liberia}}

[[Category:Catholic Church in Liberia| ]]