Combat Spirit

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Combat Spirituel (French = spiritual fight ), also known as Fondation Olangi-Wosho (FOW), is a religious group of the Pentecostal movement with a focus on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and branches in Europe, which was founded by Joseph Olongo and Elizabeth Wosho . It has repeatedly come into the focus of public criticism because of violent exorcism rites on "witch children".

history

Joseph Olangi N'koy U'de, born on August 14, 1948 in Lodja in the later Democratic Republic of the Congo, was trained as a computer scientist at the Catholic University of Leuven . Elisabeth Wosho Oyumbe, born on November 19, 1950 in Karako Kombe , trained in textiles and graduated in sociology. The couple married Catholic in 1969 in Liège , Belgium, and have seven children and one grandchild. At times they live in South Africa.

Combat Spirituel is said to have originated through the revelation of God to Elizabeth Wosho, who received the commission from God to do him all glory and to proclaim his word in the world.

structure

The church is supported by a foundation established in 1993, the "Fondation Olangi-Wosho". It has over 60 branches in 25 countries, including Germany with headquarters in Berlin, Bonn-Cologne and Munich, and Switzerland (Lausanne). The headquarters and largest municipality in Europe is Paris (France), the municipality in London is also extensive. Other congregations can be found mainly in West and Central Africa as well as in America and Asia.

The foundation (FOW) is divided into three groups, for women the “Communauté Internationale de Femme Messagere en Christ (CIFMC)”, German: “International grouping of Christ's messengers”, for men “Peniel” (French for Pnuel, according to Genesis 32 : 31, meaning of the name: Face of God) as well as the youth organization "Jeuneusse Chrétien Combattante (JCC)", German: "Kämpfende Christian Jugend".

meaning

Combat Spirituel is considered to be “one of the most powerful and richest Pentecostal churches in Kinshasa”, and its most famous supporter is Joseph Kabila , President of the DR Congo. In Kinshasa alone, the church has around 50,000 followers.

The church is also considered to be the "pioneer of witch hunts in the Congo in the 21st century". On the occasion of several cases in Great Britain and the analogous situation in the Congo, the Church came under public criticism in 2006, especially in Great Britain, because it sometimes practiced extremely violent exorcism rites on children in Europe and Africa. Church spokesmen professed their basic belief in kindoki , the witchcraft of children, but in all cases that came to light they distanced themselves from the violent rites of exorcism that some of their followers carried out.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Regine Kiala: Elisabeth Wosho Onyumbe - «la femme doit beaucoup travailler et prier pour apporter le changement du pays In: Le Potentiel, Kinshasa, March 18, 2009, online
  2. ↑ Own information about the founders on the website of the church ( Memento from June 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ a b ( page no longer available , search in web archives: own information on the structure on the foundation's website )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / fowconventions.org
  4. ↑ Own information about the foundation on the website of the church ( Memento from June 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Own information on the expansion on the website of the church ( Memento from March 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Dominic Johnson : In a poor country the poorest devils , taz, April 6, 2006, p. 13, online
  7. ↑ a b Richard Hoskins: Torment of Africa's 'child witches' , In: The Sunday Times, February 5, 2006, online
  8. ^ Johann Hari: Congo's tragedy: the war the world forgot In: The Independent, May 5, 2006, online
  9. ↑ Olusegun Fakoya: Africa: Child Abuse and Persecution of Children , in: Nigeria Village Square, November 18, 2008, online

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