Despite continued instability and outbreaks of violence in the Central African Republic, the Vatican announced Pope Francis will spend about 33 hours in the country during a November 25-30 visit to Africa.
Advertisement
The Pope is scheduled to visit a mosque in one of the most risky neighborhoods in CAR’s capital, Bangui, where he is expected to try and unify the fighting Christian and Muslim faction of the country.
CAR’s interim president Catherine Samba-Panza on Monday called on the worldwide forces stationed in the country to undertake “vigorous action to make Bangui a sanctuary” ahead of the papal visit. Speaking yesterday after touring the University of Nairobi grounds, St Mary’s School and St Joseph-the worker, Kangemi Parish, acting Lands Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i emphasised the importance of the Pope’s visit saying the government is fully prepared.
The mainly Muslim Seleka rebels behind the coup went on a bloody rampage that triggered the emergence of equally risky anti-balaka (anti-machete) militias in mostly Christian communities.
The army was sidelined during the Seleka’s rule.
The pontiff plans a six-day African tour, his first to the continent, that will also take him to Kenya and Uganda, beginning on November 25.
Families in the Fatima district grabbed bedding and a few possessions and headed to camps for displaced people or to stay with families in the city’s south, witnesses said. The Christian militias have carried out ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population during the ongoing conflict and thousands of people have been killed, the United Nations said in a report earlier this year, according to Al Jazeera.
Authorities delayed presidential and parliamentary elections, in part because of the unrest, to December 13, and they may be pushed back again if the violence persists.
Advertisement
A peace deal signed in May between 10 armed groups required them to disarm and possibly be charged with war crimes during the two-year conflict, but the brief optimism from the accord seems to have run out.
