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- WORLD, Page 61World NotesIVORY COASTA Monumental Dispute
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- When Pope John Paul II concludes his 10-day tour of Africa
- this week with a stop in the Ivory Coast to visit the Basilica
- of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, he will be consecrating
- the biggest church on the African continent. But critics of the
- structure, which cost more than $200 million, charge that the
- Pope will also be giving his blessing to the monumental
- extravagance of Ivorian President Felix Houphouet-Boigny. In
- response to questions about where the funds came from, the
- President insists that he used his own fortune to finance the
- basilica.
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- Embarrassed Catholic leaders have tried to stress the
- basilica's importance as a bulwark of Christianity. But others
- say Houphouet-Boigny has more earthly aims: to use the Pope's
- visit to clinch a seventh successive five-year term in the
- upcoming presidential elections.
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