Central African Republic Archives

Bishop sheltering Muslims in CAR says fear of death is real

The Catholic bishop of a mid-sized town in the Central African Republic who’s sheltering roughly 2,000 Muslims at his seminary seeking safety from attacks by largely Christian militias says they can’t even set foot off seminary grounds to seek basic goods for their families such as firewood, medicine, food and water without fear of death.

Central African priests use Facebook to express outrage, appeal for help

Aid organizations have reported worsening violence throughout 2017 in the Central African Republic, one of the world’s poorest countries. Violence is mainly between armed remnants of Seleka, a Muslim-dominated rebel movement that briefly seized power in 2013, and a mainly Christian militia, Anti-Balaka.

School kids in CAR get ‘guns instead of pens,’ cardinal laments

Speaking exclusively to Crux on a visit to neighboring Cameroon, Cardinal Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, described the youth of his country as “a lost generation, because they are born into violence,” and also insisted that the root causes of the carnage are political rather than religious.

Bishop in Central African Republic reports 50 Christians killed in escalating violence
- Global Church
- August 9, 2017
Spanish missionary Bishop Juan José Aguirre, who heads the Bangassou diocese in the Central African Republic, sent a message to his brother in Spain saying that Muslim militias killed 50 people on Tuesday, and that he fears for what might be the fallout in his diocese, where he’s keeping 2,100 Muslims safe from the Christian militias who want to kill them. Pope Francis prayed about the country during Wednesday’s general audience.
READ MORE
Catholic bishop in Central African Republic sheltering Muslims in cathedral
- Global Church
- July 27, 2017
Two thousand Muslims have taken refuge in the cathedral of Bangassou, guarded by UN peacekeepers. The rising violence between the Anti-Balakas (composed of mostly Christians and animists), and the predominantly-Muslim Séléka rebels dates to 2013.
READ MORE
Central Africa: Catholic bishops call for interreligious dialogue as intolerance rises
- Global Church
- July 20, 2017
Participants at a meeting of central African bishops this week recommended inter-religious dialogue as the way forward for the sub-region. They also reiterated claims that the death of Cameroonian Bishop Jean-Marie Benoît Balla was not a suicide, but that he was “brutally assassinated.”
READ MORE