AFRICA/MALI - After a bloodless coup, "people want a return to normality", notes a local priest

Bamako (Agenzia Fides) - "On the evening of May 28, the Constitutional Court of Mali ruled that the presidency of the Republic is vacant and appointed Colonel Goita, the leader of the coup leaders, president of the Transition. The colonel immediately organized meetings with civil society and political parties to explain the difficulties he was encountering with President Ndaw (in office since September 2020, after the coup of the previous month, until May 24, ed). He is preparing the appointment of a prime minister who will probably be a civilian member of the group of politicians called the 'June 5th Movement' (the same one that overthrew President Keita in August, ed)". This is explained to Agenzia Fides by Father Edmond Dembele, Secretary General of the Union of Catholic Priests of Mali, who hopes for a return to normality in the country hit, in the space of 9 months, by two coups d'état. "Now - says the priest - we are now awaiting the decisions of ECOWAS, which organized on May 30 the meeting of presidents in Ghana on the situation in Mali. Colonel Goita was present at this meeting. It is necessary that the situation is brought back under the full control to restore the country to its stability and, in particular, so that the army can deal with the jihadist presence in the center and north of the country", adds the priest.
"Fortunately", he continues, "the coup was rather bloodless, there were not many clashes and there were no deaths or many injuries. In the following days, demonstrations for or against the coup were held without incident. People want to return to normalcy and, above all, they ask the army to take care of security and to contain the penetration of jihadists, and not to waste time on political-military quarrels. I am sure that a compromise will be found for a civil government as, moreover, the international community asks us".
Mali is a country with a strong Muslim majority (80%), compared to 5% Christians (mostly Catholics).
Until less than a decade ago, the country enjoyed a good degree of religious coexistence: "The problems arose with the arrival of the jihadists in 2012, and since then things have changed, although the dialogue and the coexistence in society have not undergone any substantial changes. It must be said that here, Islamic terrorist groups do not attack churches or Christians, their targets are the state and the army. They are fragmented, perceived as foreigners to our culture or foreigners, and their objectives are somewhat confused, between those who are primarily interested in the conquest of power and those who rather aim to Islamize Mali", notes Fr. Dembele.
The Catholic Church plays a role on the national scene: "she is very important and her voice: in particular that of Cardinal Jean Zerbo is very much listened to by all, without distinction of faith and belonging. The Cardinal is seen by Malians as a national authority that honors our country in the world and upon its creation in 2017, the president expressed his joy and sent two ministers to Rome as well as the Islamic Council, which sent three senior representatives. The Church in general is seen as an institution that is on the side of the people".
This - he concludes - also happens "thanks to a history of great closeness which goes back in particular to the first Malian bishop Luc Auguste Sangaré, who died in 1998, who distinguished himself among the few voices who courageously told the truth to the president even when it was very dangerous because there was a military dictatorship and people lived in terror". (LA) (Agenzia Fides, 31/5/2021)

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