after Bozoum, news from Bangassou: A living Church

Saturday, October 13, 2018

A living Church

A living Church

Last Thursday and Friday all 12 parishes of the Diocese, met together in Bouar, for the Pastoral Session. It was a moment of fraternity and reflection, attended by parish priests, religious brothers, sisters and lay people involved in the various parishes. We were about eighty people: from the young brother who has just arrived, to the "old" missionaries (some of them in Central Africa from the 1950’s, and always filled with the same enthusiasm!). Seminarians, Central African priests, catechists as well young people were also present at the meeting. With the new bishop, Mirek Gucwa, we prayed, reflected and discussed how to share the Good News of Jesus. Some parishes (6 out of 12) live under the presence and constant threat of various rebel groups. Yet, instead of an atmosphere of discouragement, there is an extraordinary vitality and desire to disregard this fear. These parishes continue to open up the doors of their schools, keep hospitals and dispensaries running, announce Christ Jesus in their lives and maintain a positive morale with the people with whom they live. Despite the fact that this crisis has lasted for five and a half years, the love for God and for the people has not diminished. Actually it is quite the opposite!

I went back to Bozoum very early Saturday morning, under a rain that made the road very slippery.

Monday morning I left, again early, driving towards Bocaranga. This town is only 125 km away, but it still took almost four hours, because the roads are getting worse. In Bocaranga on Sunday October 7^th, we had a great celebration for the ordination of two young Central Africans priests. I arrived the next day to organize a project that, together with Caritas of the USA (CRS), will make a contribution in this area to help the people living here, helping them with the construction of houses, repairs of community infrastructure and creating farms to produce food. It was last year that this community suffered large attacks by the rebels that killed many people and left thousands displaced.

Today, however, I went to Bouar. Here we are also getting ready to begin a project of support for 45 small dispensaries to improve jobs, and above all to take care of the children living in the most isolated villages. I wish everyone well and say “keep up the good work!”