News — Christians

Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro Basilica is located in Yamoussoukro, which since March 1983 been the capital of Côte d’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast). It is the largest Christian church in the world, according to Guinness World Records. The basilica is not to be confused with a cathedral, which is the principal place of worship and where the ruling bishop is seated. It was constructed between 1985 and 1989 and is locally known by its French name, Basilique Notre-Dame de la Paix.

Former President Felix Houphouët-Boigny chose the location as part of a plan to transform his hometown of Yamoussoukro into the country’s administrative capital. Although funding for the construction came directly from the President Houphouët-Boigny’s personal funds, the cost of the basilica generated controversy as Côte d’Ivoire was going through a financial and economic crisis at the time of construction. Residents of many of the nation’s major cities were without access to running water, trash was piling up everywhere, and diseases were spreading.

The actual cost of construction is not publicly known but estimates are that it took from $400 to $600 million in US dollars to complete the edifice. The latter figure was more than double the country’s entire national debt. On September 10, 1990, Pope John Paul II traveled to Yamoussoukro, on behalf of the Catholic church, to accept the basilica as a gift. The Pope consecrated the church with the condition that a hospital be built nearby. Construction of the hospital was halted during the Ivorian Civil War and other political and military crises from 2002 to 2011, but was completed in 2014.

Lebanese architect Pierre Fakhoury, designed the basilica in the fashion of the Basilica of St. Peter in Vatican City in Italy. He made the dome slightly lower in deference to the Basilica of St. Peter but added a cross that gives it a taller overall height. The structure can accommodate 18,000, including some 7,000 seated and 11,000 standing, and the esplanade in front of the Basilica can accommodate 300,000 people.

The building was constructed from imported Italian marble, and contains twenty-four stained glass windows, including one with the likeness of President Houphouët-Boigny alongside Jesus and his Apostles. West African Iroko wood was used for the 7,000 pews. Two identical villas sit in front of the structure. One houses clergymen who operate the basilica and the other is reserved for papal visits. The basilica’s circular colonnade is made up of 272 Doric columns.

Regular services are usually only attended by a few hundred people. The only time the basilica was filled to capacity was on February 7, 1994, for President Houphouët-Boigny’s funeral. Only 17 percent of Ivorians identify as Catholic, while Islam remains the major religion of the nation.

Easter is a period that people often look forward to with so much joy and planning. For the almost 70 million Christians that live in Africa, Easter symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion. The oldest Christian-claimed holiday is preceded by the season of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and repentance, followed by a 50-day Easter season that stretches from Easter to Pentecost. What do Africans make of the season?

In 2013, a Kenyan lawyer sought to get justice for Jesus Christ, arguing that the trial and crucifixion of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago was unlawful. Dola Indidis, a former spokesperson of the Kenyan judiciary, petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICC), based at The Hague, to nullify Jesus’ conviction and death sentence.

He named defendants including Pontius Pilate, King Herod, the former Emperor of Rome, and the states of Israel and Italy in the lawsuit he filed with the ICC, Kenyan media reported. “I filed the case because it’s my duty to uphold the dignity of Jesus and I have gone to the ICJ to seek justice for the man from Nazareth,” Indidis told Standard Media. “His selective and malicious prosecution violated his human rights through judicial misconduct, abuse of office bias and prejudice.”

According to the New Testament, Jewish authorities arrested Jesus Christ on the charges of blasphemy after he had performed miracles and claimed to be the son of God. Jesus was brought to Pontius Pilate, then the Roman Governor of Judea. Pilate told the Jewish authorities that he did not have jurisdiction to hear the case and sent him to King Herod. Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate.

Jesus was found not guilty of any charges. However, crowds of Jews called for him to be executed, compelling Pilate to have him crucified together with two criminals.

Indidis’ case challenged the “mode of questioning used during Jesus’ trial; the punishments meted out to Him while proceedings were still underway; and the substance of the information used to convict him,” the Daily Mail reported.

He hoped the court would declare that “the proceedings before the Roman courts were a nullity in law for they did not conform to the rule of law at the material time and any time thereafter.”

“Some of those present spat in his face, struck him with their fists, slapped him, taunted him, and pronounced him worthy of death,” he said. Indidis further explained that he included modern-day states in the suit because they have previous ties to the Roman Empire. “The government for whom they acted still is answerable for their act,” Indidis told Kenya’s Citizen TV. “Pontius Pilate was acting under the government of Rome, which was headed by Caesar.”

“Evidence today is on record in the Bible, and you cannot discredit the Bible,” Indidis said.

The Kenyan lawyer believed he had a good case, highlighting the trial of Joan of Arc as evidence that there is precedent for his request. Joan of Arc was a peasant girl who was burned at the stake. The verdict in her case was reversed years after her death by a papal commission. “This is the same case with Jesus,” said Indidis. “The judge who sentenced him said that he had no jurisdiction to attend to the matter but he went ahead to convict and pass a capital sentence under duress.”

Legal experts argued that the Kenyan lawyer was fighting a losing battle as the ICJ, created to resolve disputes between states, has no jurisdiction over the matter. And that’s exactly what happened, according to media reports. Indidis had turned to the ICJ after a 2007 petition to a Nairobi court was dismissed.