In the storm of war, seeking peace

"The news coming from the Central African Republic give the impression that here we are all involved in a situation of hatred and war. The media have talked about religious conflict in which Muslims are against Christians and vice versa.
It is true that the situation seems quite complicated, but there are clear elements that are emerging: I say now that the conflict is not religious but political, that not all the people are involved, but there are many people on both sides that dissociate themselves from armed conflict.
None of the young people involved in parish life has been involved in the conflict, but there is an effort to forgive and to make a new start even if their heart bleeds for the loss of relatives and family members.
With the help of this part of the population, which is the majority, though weak and helpless, we do not stop to re-launch the peace process.
Among the many initiatives I mention here one which is particularly meaningful: "The platform for interfaith peace", organized by a group of representatives of the Christian and Muslim religions that promote peace and reconciliation initiatives. Meetings between religious leaders were organized in order to share the worries, sufferings and fears with each other. At the heart of it all there is always the support of the Biblical and Koranic word promoting peace, disarmament of hearts and hands.
The prayer vigil of Religions for Peace, lived the afternoon of December 31 last year, was quite emblematic. The Christian and Muslim communities held a three-hour prayer service for peace in the sports hall of Bouar: singing, dancing, reading passages about peace from the Bible and the Koran with contributions from different representatives of religious and administrative institutions. More than three thousand people attended the meeting and no one has tried to “pull" the situation on his side; all wanted to hear the whole message of the Bible and the Koran.
At the end one could feel that so many people were relaxed and seemed to come closer and closer again after a period of hatred.
We begin the new year urged by this desire for peace reaffirmed by all religions and made public in this vigil. It is also a clear message to those forces that believe that the one and only solution is the annihilation of the other party. 
The population seems to be more sensitive to the word of God than to political analysis, the Word has the power to put life back into population using new criteria different from those used so far 
Forward with confidence.
Fr Beniamino Gusmeroli scj