Jean-Marie Benoît Balla
Jean-Marie Benoît Balla (born May 10, 1959 in Oweng , † May 31, 2017 in Ebebda ) was a Cameroonian clergyman and Roman Catholic bishop of Bafia .
Life
Jean-Marie Benoît Balla received on 20 June 1987 the Archbishop of Yaounde , Jean Zoa , the sacrament of Holy Orders . He studied philosophy and theology at the Major Seminary in Nkolbisson and social sciences and management at the Institut Catholique von Yaoundé.
On May 3, 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Bafia. The Apostolic Nuncio in Cameroon, Archbishop Félix del Blanco Prieto , donated him episcopal ordination on July 12 of the same year ; Co- consecrators were the Bishop of Kumbo , Cornelius Fontem Esua , and the Bishop Emeritus of Bafia, Athanase Bala CSSp .
The circumstances of death on May 31, 2017 were initially unclear. According to the Catholic media service Aleteia , an autopsy ordered by the authorities found severe physical abuse before the lifeless body was found on June 2, 2017 in the waters of the Central African Sanaga River , about one hundred kilometers from Yaoundé . Three weeks earlier, one of his closest collaborators, Armel Djama, Rector of the Small Seminary in Bafia, had died under unexplained circumstances, as had other Catholic clergymen.
On July 4, 2017, after a second autopsy with the assistance of Interpol , the attorney general at the Yaoundé Court of Appeal stated that Balla had not been murdered , but drowned . There are no indications of violence. Contrary to the results of the investigation, the Cameroonian Bishops' Conference claimed in August 2017 that Balla was murdered by homosexual priests after speaking negatively about homosexuality . Citing the approval of the corpse by the public prosecutor's office, the murder hypothesis , which was spread among others by Hedwig von Beverfoerde , the organizer of the demo for all , and the AfD politician Anette Schultner , was called a conspiracy theory.
On August 31, 2017, Balla's grave was stained with blood in the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bafia ; the church was temporarily closed until a scheduled penitential celebration.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Cameroon Catholic Bishop Commits Suicide
- ↑ Otric Ngon: "L'évêque catholique de Bafia, Jean-Marie-Benoît Bala, s'est probablement suicidé ce mercredi" on cameroon-info.net , May 31, 2017 (fr.)
- ↑ a b Isabelle Cousturié: "Cameroun: Mgr Benoît Balla, évêque de Bafia, at-il été assassiné?" On fr.aleteia.org , June 7, 2017 (fr.)
- ↑ Isabelle Cousturié: "Cameroon: Bishop of Bafia was apparently murdered" on kathpress.at , June 7, 2017
- ↑ Ndikum Gerald: Gov't Paid 3billion CFA FRS. to Autopsy Experts Investigating Bishop Bala's Death. Cameroon Journal July 5, 2017
- ↑ Cameroon: Bishop murdered by gay priests? queer.de from August 21, 2017
- ↑ Cameroon: Homosexual priests responsible for murder of bishop? kath.net from August 21, 2017
- ↑ Cameroon: Bishop Bala's tomb desecrated. Vatican Radio, August 31, 2017
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Athanase Bala CSSp |
Bishop of Bafia 2003–2017 |
Emmanuel Dessi Youfang |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Balla, Jean-Marie Benoît |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Cameroonian clergyman and Roman Catholic bishop of Bafia |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 10, 1959 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Oweng , Cameroon |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 31, 2017 |
| Place of death | Ebebda , Cameroon |