LIBERIA

LIBERIA. -

I. GEOGRAPHY

It is the smallest (from 95,000 to 120,000 sq. km.) of the three independent states of Africa. It was founded in 1822 by American philanthropists who settled there several families of freed Black slaves (hence the name).

It comprises the so-called Pepper Coast (Guinea) between Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast, and the hinterland as far as the Nimba massif. The interior is little known, and even in the coastal region, free of marshes, only short stretches around the capital and the small coastal centers are under cultivation: palm nuts and oil, piassava, coffee, rice, maize, potatoes, cassava. A little gold is extracted from the sands of the rivers; the considerable forest reserve is still almost intact.

The population (from 1.5 to 2.5 million inhabitants) consists of Black people, of whom barely 60,000 are civilized. The economy and administration are in fact in the hands of the United States, which have given considerable impetus to the improvement of the country. L. is a democratic republic with bicameral representation. The capital is Monrovia (10,000–15,000 inhabitants).

In 1903, when the mission was established as an apostolic prefecture, another, likewise unsuccessful, attempt was made by the Montfortians; finally, responsibility for it was entrusted to the Fathers of the African Missions of Lyon (1906), who still work there today. Its first apostolic prefect was Fr. Kyne; the mission developed under the prefect and later apostolic vicar, Msgr. Ogé. The apostolate, despite Protestant predominance, was not unproductive: the most responsive populations were the Kru tribes (the station at Sasstown dates from 1912, that at Grand Cess from 1916); other stations were founded in recent years: Monrovia in 1921, Rassa in 1929, and Cape Palmas in 1930; farther inland, Saniquelle in 1932 and Gbangba in 1933. The mission experienced no few and no minor trials: the war of 1914–18 threatened to stifle it; the epidemic of 1918 scattered the Christians, who were promptly assisted by the missionaries; then came open Protestant hostility, which demanded the removal of the Catholic missionaries. Despite everything, the mission progressed. In 1934 the prefecture was raised to an apostolic vicariate. On 5 February 1950 the vicariate was divided into the apostolic prefecture of Cape Palmas,

which comprises the southeastern part of Liberia, and into the apostolic vicariate of Monrovia. Giovanni B. Traccella

III. LEGAL STATUS OF THE CHURCH

The Catholic Church enjoys freedom of movement and action in L., so that well-founded hopes may be entertained for the progress of Catholicism in the country; thus far, in fact, the number of Catholics is small: 9363 out of a population of approximately 2,500,000 souls.

The Government places no obstacles in the way of the Church’s important educational activity. Medical assistance is likewise well developed, with approximately 30,000 annual consultations in the missions’ 6 dispensaries. The government of the Republic has always maintained cordial relations with the Holy See. In 1927 regular diplomatic relations were established; the president of L. accredited a plenipotentiary minister to the Supreme Pontiff, and His Holiness appointed a permanent chargé d’affaires, the only such example among pontifical diplomatic representations. From the outset, this mission has been entrusted to the apostolic vicar of Monrovia.

Recent proof of the esteem and deference that the Government holds toward the Catholic Church and Catholics was seen on the occasion of the UNESCO international conference in Florence in September 1950: for the first time, Catholics were chosen, including the only indigenous priest, to represent the Republic at that international assembly, despite the predominant position of Protestants in L. Ippolito Rotoli