Pope Francis has shown interest in us, in the Central African Republic

“We are looking forward to receiving Pope Francis in the Central African Republic (CAR). We hope that everything will work well and the Pope can come to CAR. This visit will bring peace and hope to all the people of CAR and to neighbouring countries,” said Fr. Jésus – Mortiol Demele, the Director of the Church owned Notre-Dame Radio in Bangui, the capital. He was speaking Tuesday in Rome to the Africa Service of Vatican Radio.

Fr. Jésus – Mortiol Demele is one of the local organisers of Pope Francis’ visit to CAR. He says that, in general terms, the security situation in Bangui is much improved compared to last year. According to him, people are trying to get on with their lives in spite of the significant setback to peace that took place towards the end of September, when six days of fighting took a heavy toll on lives and displaced many. At the time, United Nations’ agencies said that 41 people were killed, more than 260 wounded while over 40 000 were newly displaced in the city.

It all started when a motorbike taxi driver from the Muslim community was killed. This led to residents of the largely Muslim area in the 5th district (PK5) to rally towards the 3rd district of Bangui (said to have more Christian residents). In the process, communities and militia groups engaged in reprisal killings; a Pentecostal Church, houses, properties were set on fire and a Muslim NGO was ransacked.

Yesterday, Fr. Mortiol Demele, without diminishing the seriousness of what happened in September, was not keen to describe the crisis in Bangui as that between Christians and Muslims. In fact, religious leaders in Bangui from both the Muslim and Christian sides have long sought to discourage residents into buying the over-simplistic presentation of CAR’s crisis under the narrative of a conflict between Muslims and Christians. The biggest challenge now, in CAR they say, is that there has not been any effective disarmament of the various militia groups. In a way, this is because the transitional government in CAR is not capable of disarming the militias. The international peacekeepers stationed in CAR are few and can barely cope with protecting citizens.

Fr. Serge Ikaga, CAR’s major seminary Rector, also one of the local papal visit organisers, who was with Fr. Mortiol Demele Tuesday in Rome, explained that in Bangui it does not take much for tempers to flare up in the city. According to him, any small confrontation, even a petty thief caught at a public market can spark serious tensions in the city involving entire communities. For a country that is awash with various militias and criminal gangs things can and do sometimes get out of hand. 

CAR Analysts have also mentioned the fact that although both Seleka and the Anti-Balaka militias have signed-up to uphold peace, they are loose coalitions of militia groups and individuals that lack centralised top-down command structures. As a result, no one person has the authority to agree to a peace treaty or has the power to enforce one.

Then of course there are the “enemies of peace” as described by Ali Ousman, coordinator of the country’s Muslim organisations. According to IRIN news, Ousman recently told a large demonstration in CAR to guard against those who thrive on anarchy and do not want to see peace return to CAR.

What is clear is that this country which is on the periphery of the world’s geopolitical interests remains close to the heart of Pope Francis. At the Angelus on Sunday 14 September 2014, Pope Francis prayed and made a passionate plea for peace in CAR. He expressed his desire for the violence in CAR to give way to dialogue. Pope Francis also spoke of his wish that every citizen, regardless of ethnicity or religion, would contribute towards the re-building of CAR. For a year, it seemed that CAR was heeding Pope Francis’ call and peace was slowly returning until the September events happened.

The local organisers of Pope Francis’ visit to CAR are not deterred. They are sure that the Apostolic visit will bring good tidings to CAR. No doubt Catholics cannot wait for Pope Francis to touch down in CAR. Interestingly, they are not the only ones. According to Fr. Ikaga, when they told some Muslim leaders last week that they were coming to Rome and did they have a message for the Vatican? The Muslim leaders told them, “The Pope is bringing us a message of peace. We have nothing to say. We wait for him and we will listen to him.” Fr. Ikaga added, “This is because everyone in CAR knows that It was really Pope Francis who showed an interest in us. He spoke about us and drew attention to our situation in CAR,” said the seminary Rector.

And so for Fr. Jésus – Mortiol Demele, Fr. Serge Ikaga, the organisers of the papal visit and their compatriots in CAR, it is now a matter of waiting with bated breath before they can finish with that fresh coat of paint, for Pope Francis, to the famous signpost said to be outside Bangui’s airport and which reads, “Bienvenue à Bangui la Coquette!”

(Fr. Paul Samasumo, Vatican Radio)

e-mail: engafrica@vatiradio.va

Listen to below to an extract of Father Jésus – Mortiol Demele when he spoke to Vatican Radio: