AFRICA/BENIN - Bishops in view of the election: "It should be peaceful, inclusive and democratic"

Friday, 23 October 2020 bishops  

Cotonou (Agenzia Fides) - "The next elections should be peaceful, inclusive and democratic in the spirit of the National Conference of February 1990", said the Bishops of Benin in the statement published at the end of their plenary session at the Pastoral Center, in Natitingou, in the north-west of Benin.
The Bishops urge "the faithful, political party leaders and citizens in general to make an objective, critical and constructive assessment of the five-year period that is now drawing to a close". Presidential elections are to take place in Benin on April 11, 2021, in which the outgoing President, Patrice Guillaume Athanase Talon, is expected to run for a second term.
he presidential elections are scheduled for 11 April 2021. The outgoing President, Patrice Guillaume Athanase Talon is expected to run for a second term.
The Bishops' Conference of Benin is deeply saddened by the torrential rains that have affected several parts of the Country, particularly in the Alibori Department, in which people died, crops were destroyed, livestock were depleted, and indigent populations became homeless. Earlier this month, more than 7,000 people fled the floods from the communities of Kandi, Karimama and Malanville in Alibori province in northeast Benin.
The Bishops of Benin are also concerned about the various cases of suicide, especially among young people. "They remind everyone that human life is sacred and belongs to God from conception to its natural end", says the message sent to Fides.
The Bishops of Benin express their concern about "the insidious promotion and gradual introduction of homosexuality and sexual orientation as human rights in the legislation of the countries of the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OEACP) in exchange for the renewal of bilateral and multilateral agreements on international aid".
The message concludes by asking the faithful to recite "the special prayer for Benin at the end of each Mass". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 23/10/2020)


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