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“Today, more than ever”: CAR Catholic Bishops on Need for Church-State Peace Networking

Members of the Central African Episcopal Conference (CECA). Credit: CECA

Catholic Bishops in the Central African Republic (CAR) have underscored the need for collaboration between the Church and the State to realize peaceful coexistence among the citizenry. 

In a statement issued Sunday, June 25, members of the Central African Episcopal Conference (CECA) say the Church-State networking for peace is needed now “more than ever”.

“Today, more than ever, the Church and the State must work together to educate and train the Central African population in the culture and preservation of peace and living together,” CECA members say. 

They add, “For our country, the imperative of casting the net invites us to draw up action plans to restore, among other things, peace and social cohesion, create jobs and work opportunities, and promote patriotic awareness.”

“Peace is priceless. We can never say it enough. Inter-community and socio-economic peace, peace between all political and military entities, must be the sovereign good towards which all our efforts must converge,” Catholic Bishops in CAR further say in the statement shared with ACI Africa.

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They caution against repeating past mistakes, and say, “It is important to learn from the mistakes of the past, from the memory of our sufferings not yet fully healed, in order to build lasting peace and the future of this country on solid foundations and values of equity and justice, fraternity and sincerity.”

“Peace and social cohesion must be based on the fundamental values of respect for human dignity,” CECA members say in their five-page statement.

Peace and cohesion among CAR citizens, the Catholic Bishops say, “must enable us, without any discrimination, to ensure equal opportunities for all, effective access to fundamental rights and to educational, social, health, economic and cultural well-being, with a view to active and better participation in the building of our country.”

“The restoration of peace and social cohesion, as well as the creation of opportunities and jobs, can only be effective when they are driven by love of country,” they further say.

Catholic Bishops in CAR go on to describe patriotism as a “fundamental foundation” that requires citizens “to renounce the unbridled quest to satisfy our partisan and selfish interests, in order to consider only the supreme good of the nation.”

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“The culture of work well done with dedication and self-sacrifice must become the driving force of a Central African Republic on the road to recovery,” they emphasize, and add in reference to the culture of work, “It's a painful birth that requires patriotic awareness and consistent reforms.”

The Catholic Church leaders call on Central Africans to “work together to bequeath to present and future generations a better and more prosperous Central African Republic, where unity, dignity and work are truly the foundation and the compass.”

“May the Blessed Virgin Mary intercede for our country and accompany us in our quest to restore peace and social cohesion, while respecting the dignity of every Central African and the principles of our nation. Holy Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Peace, pray for us,” Catholic Bishops in CAR implore.

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