Pope Dedicates Controversial African Basilica : Religion: Blessing of the costly Ivory Coast structure as thousands watch is the highlight of the pontiff's 10-day tour of four area nations.

Pope Dedicates Controversial African Basilica : Religion: Blessing of the costly Ivory Coast structure as thousands watch is the highlight of the pontiff’s 10-day tour of four area nations.

L.A. Times Archives

Sept. 11, 1990 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

YAMOUSSOUKRO, Ivory Coast —

Pope John Paul II on Monday blessed a huge multimillion-dollar basilica praised by some as a glorious gift to God and derided by others as a scandalous show of opulence.

The consecration of the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace highlighted the last leg of the Pope’s 10-day tour of four African nations.

Tight security was in place around this city of 70,000, the home of President Felix Houphouet-Boigny, to prevent anti-government demonstrations by recently legalized opposition parties.

Houphouet-Boigny, who has ruled the country as a one-party state since independence from France in 1960, offered the basilica as a gift to the Pope during a private audience at the Vatican last year.

The colossal church, rising out of a former cocoa plantation, bears a striking resemblance to St. Peter’s in Rome with its imposing dome and long arms of marble columns surrounding a plaza.

The architect, Pierre Fakhoury, has described the new basilica as the biggest church in Christendom. Vatican officials, however, said they believe St. Peter’s is larger.

The hardwood pews were packed with 7,000 people. In the plaza outside, tens of thousands of pilgrims followed the service on television monitors and loudspeakers.

The cost of the basilica, which was completed last year, has been a source of controversy in this once-prosperous West African nation now suffering its worst economic crisis in 30 years of independence.

President Houphouet-Boigny, who offered the basilica as a gift to the Vatican, says it cost $140 million, was built on his own land and was paid for with his family’s money.

But published reports have said the price tag could be as high as $300 million, and the president’s opponents accused him of misappropriating state money for the project.

Whatever the cost, critics have said the money would be better spent on education and health care for the poor.