“Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters”, the pope said during a visit to a mosque in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, where inter-religious violence has killed thousands of people since 2013.
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Under intense security, Francis entered PK5, a Muslim enclave cut off from the rest of Bangui by Christian militias for months, and visited its central mosque, wrapping up a three-nation tour of Africa on Monday.
‘Together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence, particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name of a religion or of God himself, ‘ he said.
Francis said he was most impressed by “the crowds, the joy, the ability to celebrate even with an empty stomach” in his six-day trip to Kenya, Uganda and the vehicle.
Pope Francis greets a journalist aboard his flight from Bangui, Central African Republic, to Rome Nov. 30.
Pope Francis today said fundamentalism is not just an Islamic problem and is something which exists in all religions, including the Catholic church. And there are so, so many like this sister – so many sisters, so many priests, so many religious – who burn their lives to proclaim Jesus Christ. When Francis arrived at the city’s Koudoukou central mosque, a green building, a group of community leaders and schoolchildren were waiting for him.
‘We thought the whole world had abandoned us, but not him. “Those who claim to believe in God must also be men and women of peace”.
Moments after he left, hundreds of Muslims who had essentially been barricaded inside by armed Christians burst into what had been a no-man’s land only a day earlier. At the edge of the district, armed Muslim rebels stood alert in front of wooden barricades, watching out for any threat from Christian vigilantes.
The bold visit by the pope, who traveled into the most volatile part of Bangui in his open-air popemobile, underscored his message of faith over fear. Thousands of people in sectarian conflicts have died in the country.
His message – and the fact that he actually visited the country despite significant security concerns – struck a chord with locals and drew pledges of peace and forgiveness.
“Christians and Muslims and members of traditional religions have lived peacefully for many years”, he said.
“They looted everything, they burnt my house and I have nothing but I am ready to forget”, she said. In this Wednesday, April 16, 2014 photo, a light shines through a cross on the Catholic church where Muslim refugees have taken shelter in Carnot, Central African Republic. And once again, Pope Francis reminded us both that he can’t be placed on American ideological spectrum, and that he remains a keenly political actor.
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Half-a-million people, mainly Muslims, have fled the country amid a conflict that saw a coalition of Muslim rebels, known as Seleka forces, oust President Francois Bozize in 2013. The coup triggered a wave of violence between Muslim rebels and Christian “anti-balaka” militias, plunging the former French colony into its worst crisis since independence in 1960.
