Page 11 - Aruba Today
P. 11
WORLD NEWS A11
Monday 30 November 2015
Pope brings peace message to Central African Republic
NICOLE WINFIELD are all brothers.” of Muslim civilians fled for hood on Monday morn- coming security concerns
KRISTA LARSON “And because we are their lives to neighboring ing to meet with the local to make the trip, saying his
Associated Press brothers, we want peace,” Chad and Cameroon. To- imam and Muslims in the presence showed the “vic-
BANGUI, Central African he said. day the capital that once mosque before celebrat- tory of faith over fear.”
Republic (AP) — Flanked Sunday’s visit was a rare had 122,000 Muslims has ing a final Mass and return- She said she hoped Fran-
by Vatican bodyguards moment of jubilation in only around 15,000, ac- ing to Rome. cis’ visit would result in the
in flak vests and machine- “demons of division, hatred
gun-toting U.N. peace- Pope Francis jokes with children during his visit at a refugee camp, in Bangui, Central African and self-destruction being
keepers, Pope Francis exorcised and chased for-
plunged Sunday into Republic, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015. The Pope has landed in the capital of Central African Republic, ever from our land.”
conflict-wracked Central In a nod to Francis’ appeal
African Republic to bring his final stop in Africa and where he will seek to heal a country wracked by conflict between for personal soul-search-
a message of peace and ing, she offered a public
reconciliation to a coun- Muslims and Christians. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) confession.
try where Christian-Muslim “In the name of the en-
violence has divided the Central African Republic, cording to Human Rights The precarious security in tire governing class of this
capital and forced nearly where Muslim rebels over- Watch. Bangui raised the possibil- country and also in the
1 million people to flee threw the Christian presi- While ecstatic crowds cel- ity in recent weeks that name of all those who
their homes. dent in early 2013, ushering ebrated the pope’s visit the pope could cancel his have contributed in some
Schoolgirls dressed in the in a brutal reign that led to and message of reconcili- visit or at least trim it back. way to its descent into hell,
yellow and white of the a swift and horrific back- ation, thousands of Mus- While sectarian clashes I confess all the evil that
Holy See flag and women lash against Muslim civilians lims remained essentially have left at least 100 peo- has been done here over
dressed in traditional Af- when the rebel leader left blockaded in their neigh- ple dead over the last two history and ask forgiveness
rican fabric emblazoned power the following year. borhood of PK5, unable months, in recent days from the bottom of my
with the pope’s face Throughout the early to leave because of the Bangui has been relatively heart,” she said.
joined government and months of 2014, mobs at- armed Christian militia free of gunfire. In response, Francis told
church authorities to wel- tacked Muslims in the fighters called the anti-Bal- Welcoming Francis at the her he was here as a “pil-
come Francis at Bangui air- streets, even decapitating aka who surround its perim- presidential palace, Presi- grim of peace, an apostle
port amid tight security. and dismembering them eter. dent Catherine Samba- of hope,” seeking to en-
As Francis emerged, a and setting their corpses Francis plans to enter this Panza thanked him for his courage reconciliation,
huge cheer broke out from ablaze. Tens of thousands highly volatile neighbor- “lesson in courage” in over- disarmament and peace.
the small crowd and the He said he hoped elections
cheers continued along his scheduled for next month
motorcade route — some would enable the conflict-
5 kilometers (3 miles) of it torn country to “serenely
in his open-sided popemo- begin a new phase of its
bile. The crowds swelled history.
again at a displacement But the security situation
camp, where children sang remains tense and frag-
him songs of welcome and ile: Bangui’s archbishop
held up hand-made signs travels into the city’s Mus-
saying “Peace,” ‘’Love,” lim enclave under escort
and “Unity.” from armed peacekeep-
“My wish for you, and for all ers. The city of Bangui has
Central Africans, is peace,” long been under a nightly
Francis said at the St. Sau- curfew of 8 p.m. as gun
veur church camp. Francis battles have rung out af-
then led them in a chant: ter dark in the flashpoint
“We are all brothers. We neighborhoods.q
