Pope arrives at mosque in flashpoint neighbourhood of auto capital

Asked about his impressions of his first visit to Africa, Pope Francis said he was struck by the crowds, the joy, and the “very great sense of welcome” he encountered. “Together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence, particularly that violence which is…”

On Monday, he arrived in Bangui’s Barthelemy Boganda Stadium to celebrate an open-air, final Mass of the tour before tens of thousands of worshipers.

The danger that remains was highlighted Tuesday with the news that one of the Muslim men who followed the pope out of the neighborhood was shot in the head and killed by a Christian militia, residents said Tuesday.

“For years, they lived as brothers and sisters”, the Pope said, and local Catholic, Muslim and evangelical Christian leaders are doing their best to help their people return to that situation of peace, coexistence and mutual respect. “This question makes me think of one they once asked Jesus: ‘Tell me, teacher, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

Several hundred people had packed into the mosque, including a number actually living there after being forced out of their homes by the violence.

Armed UN peacekeepers were positioned on the mosque’s minarets and a helicopter hovered overhead.

Unprecedented security measures have been laid on for the pontiff’s two-day visit to the former French colony, which took place amid a surge in violence.

Pope Francis in the mostly Muslim PK5 neighbourhood of the Bangui.

“This trip, in many ways, has captured all of the core themes of Francis’ papacy in miniature, from war and peace to interreligious dialogue to the environment to his passion for the poor”, said CNN senior Vatican analyst John Allen.

“I don’t like getting into questions or reflections that are so technical when people die because they don’t have water or food or housing”, he said. “There is some resistance but what reassures us are the gestures that we do see on the part of others”, he said. He said he knew that a small percentage of people – “maybe 17 per cent” – of the world’s population controls the vast majority of the world’s wealth – “and I think, ‘How can these people not be aware?’ It’s such suffering”.

Ms Nicole Ouabangue, whose husband was hacked to death with an axe, said she had heard many speeches before but the Pope’s words were “different”.

“I encourage you to work with integrity and transparency for the common good, and to foster a spirit of solidarity at every level of society”, he said, speaking in the elegant surroundings of the State House, the Kenyan president’s official residence.

The PK5 neighborhood has been cut off from the rest of the city for the past two months by a ring of so-called anti-balaka Christian militias, who block supplies from entering and Muslims from leaving. Pope Francis drove through the narrow alleyways in his protected convoy and transparent glassed vehicle while people tried to reach out and touch his hands.

The landlocked Central African Republic descended into bloodshed after longtime Christian leader Francois Bozize was ousted by rebels from the mainly Muslim Seleka force in March 2013.