The Central African Republic has yet to fully emerge from a civil war fought partly along religious lines. Although the Islamist rebel group, Séléka, has been driven out of many parts of the country, attacks against Christians continue in the capital, Bangui, and in the mainly Muslim northeast. Christians have been forced to flee from their villages and are denied access to farming fields. Large groups of Christians live in extremely poor conditions in refugee camps.
UN: CAR in danger of genocide
The Central African Republic is at risk of lapsing into genocide, the Unitied Nations Security Council was told on Friday. “This will end with Christian communities, Muslim communities killing each other, which means that if we don’t act now and decisively I will not exclude the possibility of a genocide […]
Clerics call on UN military force to secure Central African Republic
Church leaders in the Central African Republic have issued a joint appeal for international action.World Watch Monitor The leaders of the Central African Republic’s 4 million Christians have issued a joint plea for military help to disarm a largely Muslim insurgency and prevent “genocidal interfaith civil war”. Meeting Oct. 3-6 […]
CAR ‘could be next failed state’
The Central African Republic is in danger of becoming the world’s latest failed state, according to Médecins Sans Frontières’ director Arjan Hehenkamp. In a report published by The Guardian, Hehenkamp wrote that religion has become part of the conflict in a country “gripped by violence since the coup d’etat in […]
Catholic clerics mugged at gunpoint in Central African Republic
Fr. Beniamino Gusmeroli was attacked by armed men on Friday.ACN Two Catholic clerics in the Central African Republic were bound and robbed by armed men on Friday, Sept. 27. Italian missionary Fr. Beniamino Gusmeroli, and Fr. Martial Mengue, a Central African deacon, were attacked by men believed to be […]
Grenades found in cathedral
Two unexploded grenades have been discovered in Bossangoa Cathedral in the Central African Republic, reports Fides. Last week, World Watch Monitor reported that the interfaith conflict in the country is escalating, while Human Rights Watch has released a report on what it calls the world’s “forgotten human rights crisis”.
Interfaith conflict threatens to engulf Central African Republic
Red Cross workers bury a corpse near Bossangoa on Sept 16.World Watch Monitor Clashes between Christians and Muslims in the northwest of the Central African Republic (CAR) have increased fears of a prolonged interfaith divide in the country. The CAR, which borders Chad, Sudan and the Congos, was one of […]
CAR rebels killed; church attacked
A spiral of reprisal violence in the western portion of the Central African Republic this month has resulted in the desecration of a Catholic parish and has forced 18 priests and nuns to flee, according to Agenzia Fides, the Vatican’s missionary news service. The trouble began earlier this month when […]
Top pastor’s arrest adds to Christians’ concerns in Central African Republic
The order for Rev. Nicolas Guerékoyamé’s arrest seems to have come straight from the very top. President Michel Djotodia, pictured, seized power in a coup in March.Crispin for World Watch Monitor The already fragile situation for Christians in the Central African Republic (CAR) may be worsening. On Tuesday (August […]
Police arrest pastor for Sunday sermon
Angered by a Sunday sermon, police in the Central African Republic arrested Rev. Nicolas Guerékoyamé on Tuesday (6 August), releasing him several hours later. Authorities accused Guerékoyamé, president of the Evangelical Alliance in the Central African Republic, of making “excessive and extremist comments” and “striking a blow at the dignity […]
World abandons C. African Republic in hour of need, MSF says
International health NGO Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) says the population of the Central African Republic has been “abandoned” to a humanitarian emergency “just when they most need help”, and that the country’s healthcare system has collapsed. With most NGOs and aid agencies withdrawing to the capital, Bangui, citing […]