The Protection of the Church

[rug]

A priest comforting Muslims who took shelter in his church in the Central African Republic, Jan. 19, 2014. (Photo by ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

Feb. 24 2014 5:57 PM
By William Saletan

An intensely moving AP story from Carnot, a city in the Central African Republic:

The Christian militiamen know hundreds of Muslims are hiding here on the grounds of the Catholic church … The priests here in Carnot have given away all their money to try and keep the anti-Balaka [Christian militia] at bay. There are no aid groups here apart from a clinic operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders. The Catholic church, though, is pledging to continue its work here no matter what the personal risk. "For us they are not Muslims or Christians. They are people—people in danger," says the Rev. Dieu-Seni Bikowo.

This is what happens in many parts of the world. Even in the midst of religious war, religious institutions provide the moral strength to contain the violence. Faith in transcendent values counters sectarian hatred.

The struggle goes on within each religion:

Already the fighters known as the anti-Balaka have brought 40 liters (10 gallons) of gasoline and threatened to burn the church to the ground. Even the Rev. Justin Nary, who takes in more Muslims by the day, knows he too is a marked man in the eyes of anti-Balaka. "Walking through town I've had guns pointed in my face four times," he says. "They call my phone and say they'll kill me once the peacekeepers are gone."

The Rev. Bikowo rejects these fighters as representatives of his faith: "The anti-Balaka are not Christians.”

http://www.slate.com/blogs/saletan/2014/02/24/why_catholic_priests_are_protecting_muslims_in_the_central_african_republic.html

The AP article is here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/muslims-seek-refuge-in-c-african-republic-church/2014/02/24/3eb6a928-9d84-11e3-878c-65222df220eb_story.html

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

1. I must applaud Father Bikowo

For doing the right thing, knowing he might be killed for doing so. "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." -- John 15:13, except these are not his friends, but they are his fellow human beings.

Or, from the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37a), "Whoever saves a single life, it is as if he had saved an entire world."

[IrishAyes]

2. Courage indeed. I'll pray for all of them.

[shenmue]

3. Yes indeed