EQUATORIAL GUINEA, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN

Formerly known as either Spanish Guinea or the Province of Fernando Póo, the Republic of Equatorial Guinea includes a portion of the African mainland and five islands located in the Bight of Biafra, in the Gulf of Guinea 20 miles off the coast of cameroon. Equatorial Guinea includes the mainland province of Río Muni, bordered on the north by Cameroon, on the east and south by Gabon, and on the west by the Bight of Biafra. Its island territories include Corisco, Great Elobey, Little Elobey, Bioko (formerly Fernando Póo) and Annobón. With a tropical climate, Equatorial Guinea is frequently visited by strong winds, and flash floods are common. Natural resources include recently discovered oil

reserves as well as small gold, manganese and uranium deposits. A volcanic island, Bioko, benefits from more fertile soil than does the Río Muni mainland, and for many years its cocoa, timber and coffee yields served as the region's main exports. In the forested mountainous interior of the island of Bioko live the aboriginal Bubi people. Other ethnic groups include Fang, Duala, Ibibion and Maka, who live on the mainland. Due to a succession of tyrannical and fiscally ineffective leaders, Equatorial Guinea remained one of Africa's poorest nations, its economy dependent on foreign aid from Spain. With the discovery of oil in the late 20th century its economy would stabilize.

The island of Bioko was discovered in 1471 and named after Fernando Póo, its Portuguese founder. Portuguese settlements were established in the region during the 16th century and slave trading became common. A Catholic mission established in 1740 failed, and the island was ceded to Spain in 1788. In 1829 Bioko began, with the consent of the Spanish crown, 15 years of British occupation that saw the arrival of English Baptist missionaries. British influences were eliminated in 1844 after control of the region reverted back to Spain. After 1841 the labors of Spanish chaplain Jeronimo de Usera were successful enough to bring other Catholic missionaries to the island. The apostolic prefecture of Annobón, Corisco and Fernando Póo was detached from the vicariate of the Two Guineas in 1855 and entrusted to the Jesuits between 1857 and 1872. Military chaplains were followed by a restored prefecture entrusted to the Claretians in 1882.

From 1857 to 1877 Spanish explorers mapped the nearby regions of the African mainland, and an agreement with the French government in 1900 determined the official boundaries of those regions to be under the control of Spain. With Río Muni now added to its jurisdiction, the region became a vicariate in 1904. The seat of the vicariate, Santa Isabel (now Malabo) on the north coast of Bioko, served as the capital of the region while it remained under Spanish control. Development of the island began in the 1920s, when the mainland became occupied.

In 1963 Equatorial Guinea was granted the right to limited self-rule, and full independence was granted five years later, on Oct. 12, 1968. Before Río Muni was detached as a separate vicariate in 1965, there were 180,000 Catholics in the vicariate, the highest percentage of Catholics in all of Africa. Unfortunately for those Catholics, as well as for the region's other inhabitants, the first ten years of independence brought death to many under the regime of President Macias Nguema, and the repression of the Catholic Church became one of his main efforts. His nephew, General Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, executed Nguema on Aug. 3, 1979 during a military coup that brought about a more peaceful era for the region. Lifting its repression against the Church and encouraged in its sporadic efforts toward democratization by Spain, Equatorial Guinea held its first "free" elections in 1993, where an overwhelming majority elected Teodoro Mbasogo president. Despite this move toward democratization, human rights violations, as well as a questionable election process, remained a concern of the United Nations throughout the 1990s, and the overwhelming election of ruling Democratic Party legislators in the March 1999 election did little to quell suspicions that the democratic process was compromised. In July 1999, 50 bishops from Central Africa met to discuss concerns over the fraud, tribalism and corruption that plagued not only Equatorial Guinea but also several of its African neighbors.

The country's 1995 constitution granted freedom of religion, and Catholicism remained the predominate faith due to its presence in the region over several centuries. Religious education remained mandatory in all state-run schools and a Catholic mass was incorporated into annual government celebrations of the nation's independence. However, in July of 1998 the government of Equatorial Guinea undertook several repressive measures. In addition to expelling three U.S.-sponsored foreign missionaries from the country, it began requiring priests to request permission before celebrating Mass or holding other assemblies. Church leaders saw this requirement as government retaliation against the open denouncement of government human rights abuses and other manifestations of corruption. It also closely followed the January of 1998 arrest of a Catholic priest in connection with a failed coup attempt the year before; the priest, Father Eduardo Losoha Belope, was still in prison in 2000.

By 2000 the region maintained 53 parishes, which were administered by 43 secular and 52 religious priests. In addition, 36 brothers and 222 sisters contributed to the social welfare of the region, their efforts focused through schools, hospitals and charitable organizations such as Caritas. Despite the escalation of government repression, Church leaders continued to speak out against human rights abuses and other corruption.

Bibliography: a. o. ibÁÑez, "Los misioneros Hijos del Inmaculado Corazón de María en Fernando Po," El Misionero, 25 (1948) 352–365. Oriente Cattolico (Vatican City 1962) 134–135. Annuario Pontificio (1964) 748.

[j. a. bell/eds.]