As Benghazi residents marked the anniversary of Libya’s revolution, the head of the city’s diminished Catholic community spoke of a need to rebuild his congregation and of the uncertainties ahead. “Thank God everything passed peacefully” on the anniversary, Bishop Sylvester Magro said after the Feb. 19 Mass attended by just a few dozen, mainly Filipino, worshippers.
“After such a prolonged war you are always in doubt of what might happen next,” the bishop said. Beyond the gates of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, the Mediterranean-front city’s boulevards were crammed with thousands of revelers, guarded by heavily armed militia and a fledgling black-clad police force. Libya is an almost entirely Muslim country, with Christianity restricted to enclaves of foreign workers, most of them only temporary residents. Although exact figures were unknown, the country was thought to play host to 40,000 Catholics until many were evacuated during last year’s civil war. Benghazi was home to a 2,000-strong Catholic community, almost evenly split between Filipinos and Africans from Ghana, Nigeria and elsewhere. Now just 300 practicing Catholics remain in the city, Bishop Magro told Catholic News Service.
BENGHAZI, Libya (CNS)