Catholics fight in Lilongwe church
Police in Lilongwe on Sunday arrested 15 Christians from Likuni Parish of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Lilongwe over a fight that disrupted mass following differences with the church leadership.
Lilongwe Police Station spokesperson Kingsley Dandaula confirmed in an interview that police arrested 14 men and one woman on suspicion that they were behind the fracas that saw some faithful stabbed with knives.
He said the 15 have been arrested on suspicion that they conducted themselves in a manner that could cause breach of peace contrary to Section 181 of the Penal Code.
Said Dandaula: “They will appear in court once our investigations are over.”
One source said in an interview that hell broke loose at around 6am as the faithful prepared for holy mass.
The source said Sunday’s fracas was the climax of an outstanding power struggle in the parish leadership.
Said the source: “For some years, parishioners have been expressing concern over how the church council is running the affairs of the church, including failure to account for K13 million (about $20 500). The [Lilongwe] archdiocese tried to resolve the problem by dissolving the council and elections for the new office-bearers were held on February 28 2016. But results [of the elections] are yet to be announced.”
Another source said there have been reports and allegations bordering on homosexuality, corruption and bribery at the parish which the archdiocese was yet to investigate.
However, Archdiocese of Lilongwe head of communications Father Gabriel Jana said he did not believe the fracas resulted from failure by the church leadership to investigate allegations of embezzlement of funds or leadership wrangles.
He said: “I doubt if those are the issues that led to this fight. We will investigate and I will tell you [our findings] at a later stage.”
Witnesses said some of the members brandished dangerous weapons such as knives and Lilongwe Police was called to quell the tension.
The witnesses said the fight pitted the parish council and the flock who had long-standing concerns with their leadership.
The situation was still volatile and tense when The Nation crew visited the parish around 9am. There was also heavy police presence at the parish.
Two young men, who were reported to be members of a community policing unit and were allegedly hired to deal with the opposing camp, threatened to deal with journalists coming to the parish and report/publish about the fracas.
“If you want peace, leave or we deal with you. Who brought you here?” a seemingly angry one-eyed man asked in full view of the police.
The faithful was seen gathered in groups outside the church as the day’s second mass was in progress.
The incident has come barely a week after the faithful joined Christians around the world in celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ during Easter, a period Christians reflect on their faith.
