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Catholic World News News Feature

Pagan rituals spur killings, use of body parts, in Africa May 19, 2005

A Catholic bishop in Tanzania has warned that the ritual killings of human beings is on the rise, and said that education is necessary to overcome superstitions that lie behind the grisly practice.

Bishop Evaristo Chengula of Mbeya, in southwestern Tanzania, reported that killers are harvesting body parts from their victims in connection with pagan rituals. Local media reports indicate that there have been arrests of people carrying human body parts, apparently planning to sell them for ritual use.

"Many illiterate poor individuals in the diocese are wrongly thinking the quickest way to getting rich is through practicing witchcraft," the bishop said. Body parts are used in rituals that are believed to protect homes from evil spirits, enrich the harvest of lands, and lure clients to businesses.

The pagan rituals also have created a market for human bodies, creating an incentive for common criminals to become involved in the trade. The bodies of murder victims in Tanzania are harvested-- and often skinned, since a human skin can command a price of several thousand dollars-- and the parts are passed through Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bishop Chengula reported that police in Tanzania are now holding many people suspected of involvement in killings and the sale of bodies.