ACN reports that today, there are many armed groups in CAR, which have partly sprouted from the two militias.
In the interview report, Bishop Gazzera says that although the situation in the country continues to be unstable, current relationships between members of the two religions show that the efforts of everyone who has worked for peace have borne lasting fruit.
The Catholic Bishop, who has more than 30 years of missionary experience in CAR and has been Coadjutor Bishop of Bangassou since his Episcopal Consecration in June 2024 recalls the country’s tumultuous past.
“In 2013 the war was presented as a religious conflict between Muslims and Christians,” he says, and continues, “but that did not correspond to the truth. It was above all an ethnic and political conflict, even if those involved belonged to different religions.”
The Catholic Bishop remembers the courage that many Clergy, women and men Religious demonstrated during the war to protect their Muslim brothers, and tells the story of Muslim refugees who were taken in by a religious order.
“The Anti-Balaka climbed over the gate of the Sisters’ school and seized the refugees who were accommodated there,” he says, and continues, “Thereupon, one of the Sisters, at the risk of her life, went to the leader of the militia and said to him: ‘You are a criminal! You have no right to enter a place where there are refugees. You must let them go.’ And he did.”
The Catholic Bishop also highlights the influence Pope Francis’ visit to Bangui ten years ago, noting that at the time, the situation was extremely volatile, and there was an atmosphere of hatred and revenge.
Bishop Gazzera says that on 30 November 2015, the day of the Mass in the stadium, the entry of Imam Omar Kobin e Lamaya, President of the Higher Islamic Council of the Central African Republic, “was enthusiastically celebrated by the faithful and was an unforgettable moment of brotherhood.”
The gesture, together with the Pope’s visit, “promoted interreligious dialogue in a time of extreme tensions,” Bishop Gazzera said.
ACI Africa was founded in 2019. We provide free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Catholic Church in Africa, giving particular emphasis to the words of the Holy Father and happenings of the Holy See, to any person with access to the internet. ACI Africa is proud to offer free access to its news items to Catholic dioceses, parishes, and websites, in order to increase awareness of the activities of the universal Church and to foster a sense of Catholic thought and culture in the life of every Catholic.
