Bishop George Biguzzi, s.x.

Bringing Christ's Peace to a War-Torn Land

Article by Maura Rossi (from The Beacon - Newspaper of the diocese of Paterson, NJ)

Bishop George Biguzzi needs used computers and other office equipment in the worst way. He needs it so badly, in fact, that he left the Xaverian Provincial House on Helene Ct. here almost on the run recently to flag down this departing reporter’s car.

 

Bishop Biguzzi,who had been invited by Bishop Rodimer (“a good friend of the Xaverians”) to attend his 50^th anniversary celebration on May 19, wanted to add an urgent message… to a just completed interview with him about conditions in his diocese of Makeni in Sierra Leone.

 

He has been a bishop since 1987 and a missionary since 1974 in that former British colony and then Commonwealth member, of some 5 million people in West Africa that became an independent republic in 1971, and has suffered untold human and societal damage in a decade-old civil war.

 

“Please,” said Bishop Biguzzi, “can you let people know that there has been so much destruction of our schools, clinics, convents, seminaries and other facilities and such a loss of equipment needed for education and administration, that organizations and businesses here could really help us by donating items they may be replacing?”

 

“I am always afraid to give the impression that we are still in the acute stage of this criminal war” said the bishop, noting that, despite some recent dramatic media reports, there is currently no “all-out fighting, only scattered episodes” since the most recent Peace Accord last year.

 

There is now great pressure from the international community on the fighting groups, to resolve the conflict, he explained, including the United Nations, the governments of other West African countries and America – “through the US ambassador, who is very actively involved.”
The horrendous results of the war “are still there,” however, like the plight of those who suffered amputation of their limbs and other atrocities at the hands of the rebels, the burning of homes, the flight of thousands of refugees from the country, the breakdown of the infrastructure, including social services, businesses, farms, hospitals, jobs and families.

 

There is now a “strong, legitimate government” in place, with a “good man” – Dr. Tejan Kabbah, a Muslim, whose wife is a devout Catholic – as president, said Bishop Biguzzi, most of whose diocese is in territory still held by the rebels.

 

Strengthening the government against a resurgence of rebel fighting right now, he also noted, is the presence of several hundred British troops who are restructuring and retraining the national army. The thing to be done now, said the bishop, is “to deal with the causes of war,” and the church has a role to play in healing the divided country by giving signs that will move the people to restore values and reconstruct their society.

 

“The real test will be the rebel disarmament issue, but they have agreed on a timetable.” It will take a long slow effort to resolve the conflict and guarantee security and a return to normal life for the citizens of Sierra Leone…  “The target is far away in the future, but it must be reached,” he insisted.

 

But we as Christians must forgive, which is also a matter of morality.  We must rehabilitate people, empower them so they can become prime movers in their own environment.
Bishop George Biguzzi

“Anyone interested in helping us with business equipment could call the Xaverian Provincial House about how to get the materials to us,” said the courtly Italian-born bishop in fluent English, Sierra Leone’s official language, and the language he learned during 14 years of living and studying in the US.  His American experience followed his priestly ordination in Parma, Italy in 1960, and included stints in Massachusetts and in Milwaukee, WI, where he acquired a master’s degree in education from Marquette University.

 

During the interview, Bishop Biguzzi traced the complicated history of the war that grew out of exploitation by the international diamond market of the country’s rich mines, the resultant government corruption and greed and the initial goal of the rebels “to stamp out corruption and have equitable distribution of wealth.  They had very lofty ideals, but in practice they turned against the poor, starting a campaign of terrorism,” he said, recalling “unprecedented levels of atrocity” by rebels throughout the country after they had been locked out of Freetown, the capital, by a force made of troops from 16 West African states.

 

The rebel fighters are not motivated by tribal or religious loyalties, said Bishop Biguzzi, explaining that most of them are teenagers and younger boys, and even some girls, forcibly abducted and trained in military tactics and kept high on drugs, like ecstasy.  (According to UNAMSIL – the UN Mission in Sierra Leone – from May 25^th to July 15^th, 1170 child-soldiers have regained their freedom in Sierra Leone as the Revolutionary United Front – RUF – has been gradually releasing them to UN officials in Makeni.  The majority of them are child mothers, pregnant or with their babies and dependent siblings, who had been abducted by the RUF since January 1999.  The children are taken to interim care centers run by Caritas and other charitable protection agencies in Makeni, Port Loko and Freetown to be eventually reunited with their families).

 

Part of the process of healing for the country, said Bishop Biguzzi, has to be a recognition by society that it must not tolerate the kind of unspeakable crimes committed by both sides in the war.  “There is a general denial of wrongdoing.  War is not a justification for crime.  This is something the nation as a whole has to recognize.  Forgiveness must be given, but it must be recognized that evil is evil, crime is crime.”

 

He sees the international war crimes court… as a sign that “humanity is coming to understand that crimes against humanity” must not be condoned or ignored.  This is not about vindictiveness, but rather about upholding morality, said Bishop Biguzzi.  “But we as Christians must forgive, which is also a matter of morality.  We must rehabilitate people, empower them so they can become prime movers in their own environment.” The bishop also reported on a positive effect of the war, noting that in the midst of so much destruction, “while churches burned and were destroyed, we have seen the emergence of the real church.”  Even though some Catholics were among the worst criminals of the war, he said, “we have seen the majority of Catholics rise up to meet the challenge of helping and protecting their neighbors.”

 

At times, he has been discouraged that people who say they are Catholic disregard the church’s teaching, but “when you look around, you find that is a small criminal element, and that most people have listened.”  He recalled how one man hid Xaverian priests in his house, how people in one village helped paupers, and saved religious books and other religious objects.  “They cater to the poor, they go to church, read the bible, pray.  Christ has taken root in their lives. They even – he said almost wonderingly – contribute to the missions through Holy Childhood and support World Mission Sunday.”

 

Bishop Biguzzi’s invitation to the Patterson Diocese for help was a follow-up to one he has sent several years ago to Bishop Rodimer, it was learned.  “I asked him to come to my diocese in Sierra Leone to conduct a retreat for the seven bishops of the West African Episcopal Conference, covering Sierra Leone, Liberia and Gambia.  His topic was ‘the Seven Sacraments’ and he did an excellent job,” Bishop Biguzzi said.

 

He met Bishop Rodimer again, he said, when they were both in Rome for the beatification of the Xaverians’ founder, Bishop Guido Maria Conforti.

 

Article by Maura Rossi (from "The Beacon" - Xaverian Mission Newsletter) » More