On Monday, Pope Francis ended a three-nation African tour with a stop in Bangui, the capital of Central African Republic, in his first visit to a conflict zone. Before saying mass in a Bangui's sports stadium, the pope visited the besieged, once-vibrant Muslim neighborhood PK5 and met with the imam and 200 other men in the city's main mosque. Christian militias surround PK5, preventing the remnants of Bangui's Muslim population from leaving the neighborhood, and Pope Francis was under heavy guard as he traveled to the mosque in an open-air makeshift "popemobile."
Central African Republic has been split along religious lines since Muslim rebels toppled the Christian president in 2013, and Muslim militias followed, committing atrocities against Christians. Christian militias formed and savaged Muslim civilians starting in 2014, when the Muslim leaders were driven from power. Pope Francis reminded both sides that sectarian violence is something new in the country and that the conflict is really about power, not religion. "Christians and Muslims and members of traditional religions have lived peacefully for many years," the pope said at the mosque. "Together, we say no to hatred, to vengeance and violence, especially that committed in the name of a religion or God."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Democrats: The 2028 race has begunFeature Democratic primaries have already kicked off in South Carolina
-
The Pentagon's missing missilesFeature The U.S. military is low on weapons. Can it restock before a major conflict breaks out?
-
Rescissions: Trump's push to control federal spendingFeature The GOP passed a bill to reduce funding for PBS, NPR and other public media stations
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulderspeed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC paradespeed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
