Mozambique Church leaders decry silence after mosques built on land taken from Church

ACI Africa, Sep 11, 2025 / 14:04 pm

Archbishop Inácio Saure of the Archdiocese of Nampula in Mozambique and other Church leaders in the southern African country have denounced the illegal occupation of Church land in the country and the inaction of authorities there.

In a report by the pontifical and charity foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, the leaders said mosques are springing up on land snatched from the Church in what they say raises fears of worsening interreligious relations in a country that is already suffering from an Islamist insurgency in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado, which neighbors Nampula.

The land includes plots on which the female religious congregation of the Servants of Mary, two seminaries, and the parish of St. John th