Catholic Church Mourns, Parish Priest Commits Suicide, Leaves Note

There is grief in the camp of the Catholic Church as a beloved parish priest accused of sexually molesting an under-aged girl has committed suicide.

He could not just bear the scandal of the news that spread like wild fire, and decided to take his own life, leaving suicide note behind.

Rev.Father Richard Bilé of Saint Francis of Assisi D ‘Affiénou (Maferé) parish in Ivory Coast hanged himself on Wednesday in his residence.

He had just returned from where he was made to testify in the case of paedophilia on the under-age girl, according to Presse Cote d’ivoire.

The news of his death came as a shock after the church council reportedly met a few days ago for a meeting and then notified the priest, on Tuesday, April 23, of their decision to temporarily suspend him over the sexual molestation case.

After he was notified of the council’s decision to suspend him,  Rev.Father Richard was found dead at about 4pm on Wednesday after he appeared to have hanged himself.

He also left a suicide note, where he wrote that “Near God, I will have peace. God’s world is too harsh and does things elusive … ”

The diocese of South-West Cote d’Ivoire through its communication officer, Father Lambert Lath

Yedo confirmed the death of Rev.Father Richard Bilé. According to him, the first elements of the investigation seem to privilege the suicide trail by hanging.