It is alleged the 9 pastors are implicated in the torture and killing of a woman accused of sorcery.

In May Enga Provincial police commander acting Superintendent George Kakas urged the nine from Kombiam district to step down from their pastoral duties and surrender themselves to police for questioning.

Kakas alleged that the pastors had signed an agreement with 50 other leaders on behalf of their Poroyalin tribe last month to torture and kill the elderly woman they had accused of killing a 20-year old man through sorcery.

Kakas, who has seen the copy of the agreement, said instead of protecting the woman, the nine allegedly conspired to have her killed.

He said such so-called pastors were fake servants of the church.

"I have the copy of the agreement that all the leaders signed and given to me while in Kombiam.

He said he wanted all the leaders who signed to come to the police station.

He urged village court officials, councilors and village leaders to uphold the law and stop people from carrying out evil acts.

Kakas warned that it they failed to turn themselves in, officers would hunt them down.

He said sorcery was something new to Enga and what the Poroyalin tribesmen did was criminal in nature.

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• www.onepng.com
• Image: i.telegraph.co.uk

Gibbs, who has spent more than four decades in Papua New Guinea, has met surviving victims of accusation and torture, as well as those who have committed witch-related torture and killings.

The Church's message against witch hunting is delivered with particular emphasis in the Highlands region, where much of the nation's witch-related violence takes place.

In those communities, many of which are remote, the Catholic bishops have posted anti-witch hunting statements on noticeboards and addressed the issue during Sunday services.

One Catholic bishop, Arnold Orowae, is threatening excommunication for any Catholic who perpetrates a witch hunt.

Although Gibbs said he doesn't know how many perpetrators have been excommunicated formally, he points out that, "in a way, the people involved excommunicate themselves".

Although most Papua New Guineans identify as Christian, their Christianity often is mixed with indigenous beliefs, which include magic: both "white magic", such as medicinal faith healing, and "black magic", such as hexes and sorcery.

These are so ingrained in Papua New Guinean culture that as recently as 1971 the government passed the Sorcery Act, which instituted prison for witches and, even more problematically, made suspicions of witchcraft a legitimate legal defence for attacking someone.

The Sorcery Act was repealed in 2013.

But old habits die hard, particularly when they involve the supernatural, and even more so in a place like Papua New Guinea, where many inhabitants are unacquainted with scientific explanations for illness and natural disaster.

During the "witch craze" of Europe, which lasted about three centuries, it is estimated that at least 50,000 people (and possibly many times more) were executed.
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"I encourage all our citizens not to get into this bad habit of accusing innocent and defenceless people of sorcery, resulting in torturing and killing," said Bishop Arnold Orowae.

"This is a moral evil that should not be practiced," he added.

Orowae is the Bishop of Wabag, the capital of Enga province in Papua New Guinea's highlands.

He said the accused are often women who are vulnerable and defenceless.

"People run around aimlessly taking pleasure in accusing, torturing, and even killing them."

"In this age and time we cannot continue to act and behave like barbaric people who have no respect for life and who kill to protect their territories."

In the past decade in Papua New Guinea, hundreds of men, women and children have been accused of witchcraft or sorcery, and publicly tortured and murdered by vigilante mobs.

Source

• The Catholic World Report
• The Diplomat
• Image: Reuter/David Gray