Pope says fundamentalism ‘disease of all religions’

Under heavy security, the pope celebrated a Mass at a stadium in Bangui and visited the Koudoukou mosque in a violence-riddled neighborhood where Bangui’s Muslims have been unable to leave for months because armed Christian militia fighters have surrounded it. Some jubilant residents even followed the pope into the city center shouting, “The war is over!” – a hopeful sign for potential reunification. “The pope is not only for the Christians, he is a servant of God for all Central Africans”, said Ibrahim Paulin, a spokesman for the displaced.

Pope Francis said that the final Mass at the Bangui stadium was “wonderful” and marveled at the sight of so many young people. But more than simply acknowledging the large numbers, Pope Francis took his pilgrimage directly to the people as he recorded several papal firsts.

Pope Francis’ message of reconciliation was warmly received in the Central African Republic, but Reverant Justin Narv said it is a process that “requires hearts to change”. During a ceremony inside, Francis bowed toward the Muslim holy city of Mecca and sat on a plush white sofa next to the imam.

“Together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence, particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name of a religion or of God himself”, he said.

Even the considerably more theologically hardline Pope Benedict said that condom use could be the lesser of two evils when it came to a person who is HIV positive thwarting the spread of the disease as a “the first step of responsibility, of taking into consideration the risk to the life of the person with whom there are relations”.

“We’re living in an open-air prison”, Ahmadou Tidjane Moussa Naibi, the imam at the mosque Francis is due to visit, said earlier this week.

The 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.

He traveled to the continent for a November 25-30 visit that took him to Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic. When the rebel leader left power the following year, a swift and horrific backlash against Muslim civilians ensued.

More importantly, this is a day when a good part of our political leadership in the United States is cowering in fear of Syrian refugees and others are insisting we send thousands of troops back to Iraq.

A series of reprisal attacks in and around the PK5 enclave have claimed at least 100 lives since late September, according to Human Rights Watch.

While the two opposing militias are identified by their religious affiliations, Muslim and Catholic leaders disavow the perpetrators of violence.

He appealed for “an end to every act which, from whatever side, disfigures the face of God and whose ultimate aim is to defend particular interests by any and all means”.

“But they don’t think about developing the countries, about creating jobs”. The crowd erupted into cheers, when he popped a wheelie and spun his wheelchair around.

The Muslims who live on the grounds of Nary’s church may now venture out occasionally into town, though they always return at night because of the precarious security that still reigns, he said.

At the peak of the violence, more than 2,000 people were killed in December 2013 and January 2014, many of them hacked to death by machete or fatally beaten by lynch mobs.