AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICA - Even the LRA rebels respect Pope Francis

Bangui (Agenzia Fides) - "Even the LRA rebels respect Pope Francis. When a seminarian from St. Andrew parish told Ugandan rebels that their car and the computer was a gift from the Pope, they did not touch it", says to Agenzia Fides His Exc. Mgr. Juan José Aguirre Muños, Bishop of Bangassou, in whose territory we find St. Andrew parish in Bakouma in the southeast of the Central African Republic, which on January 21 was attacked by a group of LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) rebels, a formation of Ugandan origin who for years have been sowing terror in the area of Central Africa.
"There were a dozen assilants, mostly Ugandans, who expressed themselves in Swahili and English, so much so that they needed an interpreter. They beat the seminarian present and the sisters of a Mexican order", says the Bishop. "They were in the parish and in the homes of the nuns for about 2-3 hours and then they left without ransacking the village. They stole money, food and medicines, destroying doors and furniture", refers Mgr. Aguirre.
In Bakouma there is no military or the MINUSCA (UN Mission in Central Africa) or Ugandan and American special forces sent to the area to hunt down the LRA. "MINUSCA sent a mission to investigate the incident. Even Americans who are in Obo, sent a patrol helicopter. We, however, had the impression that both the Ugandan and the American military knew that our parish would have been attacked", said Mgr. Aguirre, who concludes "in any case, the life of the parish continues and the sisters have remained". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 25/01/2016)

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