MONROVIA, Liberia - The Catholic Church in Liberia on Tuesday reopened hospitals and schools that had briefly closed to protest a lawmaker's claim the church was responsible for the slaying of five American nuns a decade ago.
Following a plea by warlord-turned-President Charles Taylor, long lines of patients were allowed into church hospitals on Tuesday while school teachers raced to make up missed lessons. The strike, which began Monday and was originally scheduled for three days, ended after only one.
Five nuns who were members of the Ruma, Illinois-based Adorers of the Blood of Christ order were killed in October 1992 when Taylor's faction fighters were besieging the West African nation's capital, Monrovia.
Michael Francis, the Archbishop of Monrovia — the Catholic Church's highest authority in Liberia — recently launched an investigation into the killings and said he thought Taylor's fighters were responsible.
A top legislator and Taylor supporter, Sando Johnson, denied the charge and countered by accusing the Catholic Church of conspiring with a regional peacekeeping force to murder the nuns.
Church-run hospitals and schools closed Monday in protest. A personal appeal from Taylor finally convinced the church to open the facilities again, church authorities said in a statement.
Religious and civic groups play a vital role in supplying social services in Liberia, where much of the state infrastructure has been demolished during years of fighting.
At the time of the nuns' slaying, Francis and the U.S. government blamed the killings on Taylor's rebels, who were laying siege to Monrovia — the only part of Liberia they had not overrun. Several armed factions were fighting in the area around the nuns' convent.
Taylor had invaded from neighboring Ivory Coast in 1989 to oust President Samuel Doe, who was later captured and slain by a rival rebel faction.
The seven-year war killed more than 150,000 people. Taylor, who emerged as the strongest warlord, won presidential elections in 1997. Rebels have since relaunched a three-year campaign to topple him.