AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICA - "We have to be humble to have the courage to forgive one another", said the Archbishop of Bangui

Rome (Agenzia Fides) - "More than ever Central Africans need to be humble in order to find the power of love", says His Exc. Mgr. Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Archbishop of Bangui and President of the Central African Episcopal Conference, in an interview with Agenzia Fides, during the Ad Limina visit of the Bishops of Central Africans.

Excellency, what are the challenges of reconciliation in your Country?
"The challenges of reconciliation in the Central African Republic concern Central Africans who live there and those who are refugees in neighboring Countries. We have had conflicts, but now it is time to sit down and look at each other, so that each faces up to its responsibilities, and offer each other reconciliation. You cannot live with bitterness, hatred and resentment, it is possible to forgive in order to open a new page and heal this situation.
To do this we need to be humble and have the courage to say: 'I hurt other people'. It is thanks to this 'weakness' arising from humility, that we find the power of love. We still have Central Africans within our Country and in neighboring States who sleep in the streets or in churches, and Central Africans who still live in fear, because different groups have kept their weapons. There are Central Africans who fled to Cameroon, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Brazzaville, waiting to return to their Country when the conditions of security allow it. If we, who have decided to stay in Central Africa, want to lighten the situation of our brothers who live precariously abroad, we have to hurry to find an agreement and offer them the opportunity to return to their homes, and sleep like men and not like animals".

During the Civil War you and other religious leaders (Imam Kobin Layana and Pastor Nguerekoyame Gbangou), founded the Interfaith table for peace, to say that this is not a religious war ...
"This is not a war of religion. Imam Layana was my guest for 5 months. We shared the same table and the same vision of the state of things. We defended the same cause: to defend the Central African man, and we helped those who are in difficulty. When you are away we can build a false image of the other; but when you get closer we discover his real face. We need dialogue with Muslims who are our brothers. Here, too, we must be modest, because solutions are found with others".

Is there a risk of penetration of jihadist groups in your Country?
"They had warned, even before the outbreak of the crisis, of the possible infiltration of jihadists in Central Africa. We said: 'attention, if we are not united in our Country, other problems such as jihadism will get a foothold and will destroy and destabilize the values of our people'. Therefore, as religious leaders, we wrote common letters to say that the crisis in Central Africa is not a religious issue, but a political problem. The more we are united the more these groups and ideologies from outside will find it difficult to penetrate in Central Africa". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 18/05/2015)