Twin rituals in Benin: “We are not against the Catholic Church”, Synamitrab

The National Syndicate of Traditional Doctors and Intellectuals of Benin (Synamitrab) reacted to the standoff between Abbot Justin Boccovo and the Fâ priest David Koffi Aza on the twins ceremony. In a statement published this Thursday, August 11, 2022, the union invited the various actors to do things within the standards for peace.

Synamitrab is not indifferent to the debate over twin rituals. “The video of BOKONON K. AZA and that of the ready Boccovo followed by various comments have agitated social networks in recent days. The controversy is heated around the ceremonies of the twins = Hoho in Fongbé, Togbo in Adjagbé, Guigbé, Evégbé…”we note the collective of traditional intellectuals.

According to Synamitrab, David Koffi Aza’s reaction is “unconvincing” and “has allowed some people to argue in favor of those who have fought a frontal battle against the ancestral African Vodou spirituality for several years”.

Support for David Koffi Aza

Despite his grievances against the boiling video of the Fâ priest, the National Union of Traditional Doctors and Intellectuals of Benin (Synamitrab) shows him solidarity. “Koffi AZA deserves the support of traditionalists in Benin and elsewhere because it is precisely the primordial Vodou spirituality that our brother Bokonon Koffi Aza is trying to defend together with the twins. Do not find him wrong in this matter.the statement read.

“We are not against the Catholic Church”

The Synamitrab does not fire red bullets at the Catholic Church. On the contrary, he invites her to “doing things within the norms so that God and the ancestors can bless our people”.

Let’s do things in a climate of peace and active brotherhood to save the lives of those who suffer and complain so that Benin may live.

In addition, Synamitrab asks the traditional chiefdoms of Benin to be vigilant.

Conceptual clarifications

Twins are children who are born from the same mother regardless of time and ovaries and also gender; usually they come the same day. Those are children that we consider in Benin as miracles of our ancestors as well as of Mawu-Sègbolissa. The “Togbos” or the “Hoho” were adored and venerated in Benin before the advent of the Catholic Church. The peoples of the world know that twin ceremonies do not exist anywhere in the Bible.

State of play

1- Twins are born into a family. They undergo ceremonies and rituals in accordance with the traditional and cultural practices of his family In accordance with the formulas of these ancestors,

2- The consultations are carried out to know their tutelary ancestors as well as their respective attributes…

3 – the members of their families realize for them the eternal abode of the attributes that their respective seat of consciousness shelters….

Exact opposition between the catechism and the ceremonies of the twins

Father Boccovo said that six years ago he started performing the ceremonies of the twins in front of the tabernacle and the Virgin Mary in his church.

What does the catechism say?

a) When the child goes to catechism, it is forbidden to participate in the ceremonies of the ancestors, the Vodous and the twins,

b) The child is forbidden to eat any food from the ceremonies or offerings made to their former parents (ancestors).

c) When the child finishes the catechism, he will swear that he will never participate in any ceremonies of the ancestors, the dead, the twins, etc.

Priest Boccovo should throw away his mask when traditionalist Koffi Aza reacted because he probably caught the priest violating the laws of the Catholic Church and his priesthood!! If that turns out, the life or the future of the twins or even of the people who will undergo this new practice is in danger.

Twin rituals in Benin: “We are not against the Catholic Church”, Synamitrab