Question 2.34

2.34 Your farewell speech in Guinea, in November 2001, as you were about to leave for Rome, has remained a significant moment in the country’s history. The remarkable part of it was an especially harsh indictment of the regime of General Lansana Conté. … How did you decide to give such a speech?

The situation was paradoxical. The president was proud of my appointment to Rome, and he insisted on organizing a great banquet in my honor with all the State leaders. I did not want to fall into the trap of that worldly atmosphere. On November 17, 2001, I therefore decided to take advantage of this platform to communicate my concern.

My speech was not broadcast on national television, since the recording of it was seized by the minister of information. President Conté was represented at the ceremony by his prime minister, Lamine Sidimé, accompanied by many members of his government. But during my speech, several of them dashed out of the banquet hall. …

Inasmuch as the prime minister had just bestowed on me the highest honor of the State of Guinea, I could make a long speech. And so I was able to say: “I am worried about Guinean society, which is built on the oppression of the insignificant by the powerful, on contempt for the poor and the weak, on the cleverness of poor stewards of the public good, on the bribery and corruption of the administration and the institutions of the republic. . . I am speaking to you,

Mister President of the Republic, even though you are not here. Endowed by the Lord with all sorts of natural and culture resources, Guinea, paradoxically, stagnates in poverty. . . I am concerned about the young people; they have no future because they are paralyzed by chronic unemployment. I am also concerned about national unity, cohesion, and harmony, which are greatly compromised by the lack of political dialogue and the refusal to accept differences. In Guinea, the law, justice, ethics, and human values no longer provide a frame of reference and a safeguard to regulate social, economic, and political life. Democratic freedoms are taken hostage by ideological trends that can lead to intolerance and dictatorship. In the past, giving your word was something sacred. It is true that a person’s merit is measured by his ability to be faithful to his word. Today, the media, demagoguery, mind conditioning, and all sorts of other methods are used to sway public opinion and manipulate minds, giving the impression of a collective rape of consciences and a serious confiscation of freedoms and of thought.”

The minister of information was furious. He decreed an embargo on my entire speech. The next day, during the farewell Mass in the gardens of the archbishop’s residence, one lone member of the government was present, the minister of energy, Mr. Niankoye Fassou Sagno, who is now the prime minister’s chief of staff. The wife of the president, Henriette Conté, and Elisabeth Sidimé, the wife of the prime minister, also attended. But I was very disappointed because not one Christian minister was present at this farewell Mass.

I again decided to speak loudly and forcefully. As I finished my homily, I could not hide the truth: “I know that the people of Guinea have great esteem and respect for me. But I leave Guinea with the impression that I am hated by my government because I speak the truth.”

At the end of the Mass, the prime minister arrived very hastily. … He assured me that the government paid great attention to my point of view. In fact, I knew perfectly well that the minister for national security was doing all that he could to discourage people from coming to say goodbye to me the next day when I departed at the airport.

Even so, the streets were lined with an indescribable crowd who were determined to meet me before my departure. The police tried to disperse the crowd, but it was wasted effort. … In the great hall of the airport, I made a final brief impromptu speech calling for calm, while many had tears in their eyes. With a heavy heart, I boarded the plane, and from the window I continued to look for a long time at this gigantic crowd of people who were waving to me. I remembered Archbishop Tchidimbo and that night in April 1978 when Monisgnor Barry came to tell me that the pope had thought of the most unknown priest in Guinea as the next archbishop.