Man in court after removing and damaging statue of Mary

Monday, February 13th, 2017

In Samoa, a man accused of taking a statue of the Blessed Virgin from a Congregation Christian Church of Samoa (E.F.K.S) Church has been charged with burglary and wilful damage

Tavita Sa’u from Si’ufaga, Falelatai, did not enter a plea when he appeared before Judge Talasa Lumepa Atoa Saaga.

The statue has been at the centre of a controversy between Reverend Opapo Soanai of the Si’ufaga Church and the Elders Committee of the E.F.K.S Church.

Soana’i, the father of Toaipuapuaga Opapo Soana’i (Toa), the woman who claims to be carrying the marks of Jesus Christ’s suffering,

Last Month he said he been stripped off his pastoral by the Elders Committee.

Soana’i protested his innocence saying he has done nothing wrong.

“In the Church Constitution, there is nothing in there against statues of Mary and Jesus.”

“If you look at all the churches, there are images of Jesus and Mary everywhere. Those are statues too.”

Soana’i added that he did not acquire the statues himself.

“See, I didn’t get those statues myself. They were brought over as a present and our church membership are fearful to reject it because they are of Jesus and Mary. If it was of anything else, then they might’ve considered rejecting it.”

There is a history to the statues.

“When the statues were brought over, Toa received a message which said “if anyone rejects them, they will suffer forever… So what we are saying is that if they want to remove it, they can come and do it themselves but we can’t because we received the translated message in Hebrew.”

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