French Guiana is a small country of fewer than 100,000 inhabitants situated on the northern coast of South America, nestling between Suriname and Brazil. It seldom makes world news, but when it does it's often for the wrong reasons. Take, for example, this report from Agence France-Presse:
A French Guiana court has jailed four church members for up to 12 years for the exorcism of an epileptic teenager who was found dead attached to a cross.
The members of the Celestial Church of Christ were jailed yesterday [24 June] for terms of three to 12 years for "wilful violence that caused death'' for 15-year-old Roger Bosse in 2005 in the south American territory. The court heard that the mother of the boy, who suffered from mental illness, had brought him to the church for help and was told he was possessed by the devil.
The church members beat the boy repeatedly over a three-day period with reeds and belts and attached him to a cross for the last two days, the position in which he died. A post-mortem examination showed that he had probably died from suffocation.
The Celestial Church of Christ was founded in the west African state of Benin in 1947 and claims millions of adherents worldwide.
It's so tragic that a young life was taken so cruelly and needlessly. Superstition is still rife in our world, even in the 21st century. I'm glad the boy's tormentors were given tough jail sentences. That should deter others, or at least make them think twice before seeing demons where there are none.
Our pic shows another 15-year-old boy being crucified in the Philipines on Good Friday. The difference is that he presumably endured it willingly, unlike the boy in French Guiana.
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