“Profound solidarity” and “support for action aimed at returning to a real democracy in the reconstruction of the country and the promotion of social peace” in Togo were expressed by Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, president of the French Bishops’ Conference, in a letter sent on behalf of the French episcopate to Archbishop Philippe Fanoko Kossi Kpodzro of Lomé, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Togo, on 3 May. “Concerned by the events and sufferings that are marking your country and your Church writes Ricard -, in particular after the death of the President of Togo Ganssingbé Eyadema, we share your anxieties”. The French bishops express “profound solidarity with the Bishops’ Conference of Togo and with the whole of the Christian community, and appeal to the French and European authorities “to bring their influence to bear in helping Togo to overcome this impasse”. The letter ends with the hope that the country would achieve “real national reconciliation rooted in respect for human rights and the Charter of the African Union”.
