AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICA - “Our country can be compared to a desert, where we must combat the temptations of the devil” says Archbishop Nzapalainga

Bangui (Agenzia Fides) - “The crisis which grips our country is a consequence of human weakness and human incapacity to open our hearts to the Lord’s multiple calls to conversion” Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga of Bangui, writes in his message for Lent and Easter, the text of which was sent to Fides.
Archbishop Nzapalainga refers to the civil war which started at the end of 2012, and from which the Central African Republic with the help of the international community is trying to find a way out. “We can compare our country to the desert where we must fight the temptations of the devil” writes the Archbishop urging the faithful to convert themselves to Christ and combat the temptations of evil. Mons. Nzapalainga emphasises: “with the power of the Spirit we will receive at Pentecost, we must fight to eradicate the spirit of division” and he added “basic consultation is a means of offering Central Africans an opportunity to talk with one another. The Bangui Forum remains an occasion and a way to overcome the crisis. (…). These moments mark the beginning of the process for a change of behaviour”.
The Forum to be held in the capital Bangui in a few weeks’ time, is the conclusion of a series of popular meetings and dialogue held in the provinces of Central Africa to promote reconciliation among people divided by hatred and diffidence. Lastly, according to Mons. Nzapalainga, the still to be confirmed official visit to Central Africa by Pope Francis, “is a sign of divine goodness”. “The Papal visit must be for our Church a time of grace, which will give new impulse to our life as Christians” he concludes. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 24/2/2015)