Raymond-Marie Tchidimbo (August 15, 1920 – March 26, 2011) was a Guinean archbishop of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the son of a Gabonese father and a Guinean mother. He is notable for his eight-year imprisonment during the dictatorship of Sékou Touré.

Biography

Tchidimbo was born in

Conakry Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its p ...

French West Africa French West Africa (french: Afrique-Occidentale française, ) was a federation of eight French colonial territories in West Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan (now Mali), French Guinea (now Guinea), Ivory Coast, Upper Volta (now Burki ...

(now

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

) and was ordained a priest on October 7, 1951 as a member of the

Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Ghost Fathers seal.png , size = 175px , caption = The seal of the Congregation depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Trinity. , abbreviation ...

(also known as the 'Holy Ghost Fathers'). Tchidimbo was appointed Archbishop of the

Archdiocese of Conakry The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Conakry ( la, Konakrien(sis)) is the Metropolitan See for the Ecclesiastical province of Conakry, which covers all Guinea. It is of Latin Rite and depends on the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. ...

on March 10, 1962 and ordained bishop on May 31, 1962. At the time, Guinea was ruled by a

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

dictatorship led by Sékou Touré. In November 1970, in the wake of the attempted overthrow of Touré during

Operation Green Sea Operation Green Sea ( pt, Operação Mar Verde) was an amphibious attack on Conakry, the capital of Guinea, by between 350 and 420 Portuguese soldiers and Portuguese-led Guinean fighters in November 1970. The goals of the operation included th ...

, the regime embarked on a series of purges targeting political and civic leaders suspected of disloyalty. As part of the purges, Tchidimbo was arrested on December 24. He was tortured, tried ''in absentia'', and sentenced to life imprisonment on January 23, 1971. He spent the next eight years at the

Camp Boiro Camp Boiro or Camp Mamadou Boiro (1960 – 1984) is a defunct Guinean concentration camp within Conakry city. During the regime of President Ahmed Sékou Touré, thousands of political opponents were imprisoned at the camp. It has been estimated th ...

concentration camp. As part of a deal between the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

and the Touré regime, he was freed on August 7, 1979 and flown to Rome. Subsequently, on August 13, he resigned from his position of Archbishop of Conakry;

Robert Sarah Robert Sarah (; born 15 June 1945) is a Guinean prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since 20 November 2010, he was prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 23 November 2014 to 20 February ...

was appointed as his successor. In 1987, he published a book about his captivity entitled (''Novitiate of a Bishop: Eight Years in Captivity under Sékou Touré''; Paris: Fayard).

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy
1920 births 2011 deaths Participants in the Second Vatican Council 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Guinea People from Conakry Holy Ghost Fathers Guinean people of Gabonese descent Guinean prisoners and detainees Roman Catholic archbishops of Conakry {{Africa-RC-bishop-stub