Life of the Congregation

These last few years, the central african republic has experienced political upheavals which have upset the country. Already the country was in a difficult situation; it has sunken to a greater depth of poverty. Lately, after a moment of relative calm, there have been sporadic outbreaks of violence in the capital Bangui. The people have tried finding refuge in the parishes. Just like the local population our two communities in bouar and niem are exposed and vulnerable. However, brother angelo sala scj, has returned to central africa and reminds us that betharram is well and truly there where others might not want to return.

It all happened overnight 25th to 26th September. A young Muslim was killed in an area of the capital, and his body was transported to the Central Mosque. This was the spark which inflamed the revival of the clashes between Muslims and Christians.

It should be made clear, I believe, that the crisis is not religious. The religious clash is only an excuse to take advantage of circumstances where the security and the reliable presence of Government institutions default to taking arms down into the street and surrendering to widespread pillaging, spreading panic to the heart of the population.

Unquestionably, these latest events clearly show that the Gospel ideals have not filled the people of Central Africa sufficiently deeply to change their reactions. Nevertheless, we mustn’t give in to despondency, but rather take up the strength to draw from our faith and hope, the enthusiasm and motivation to continue and carry on our work of evangelisation.

Our Congregation operates in a difficult situation here. We must make the needs of the people our own, travelling on the routes where safety is a meaningless word, with the fear of being stopped and having our car and money stolen. The difficulty of finding food, of getting fuel to make the electric generators work, or for our cars, the difficulty of getting medicine here, especially antiviral medicine, which is vital to the 750 patients that we deal with daily in our St Michael Centre. In such a fragile social situation, it is often difficult to maintain a look of hope. The question is therefore “Why stay?”

Clearly our task isn’t easy, especially when wrongs and death seem to have taken away all hope of change. However, we have decided to stay near the Christian communities and people who belong to other faiths and ethnic groups since, as Pope Francis reminds us often, the Church must serve the poorest and people who suffer.

As a Betharramite brother, I cannot deny that I have thought a few times about St Michael and his desire to set up a mobile camp of priests and brothers ready to go where others refuse to go.

Personally, I would never have been able to imagine that religious life was going to call me to live in situations of this type, where the choice made is put through a harsh ordeal. All that we are living through in Central Africa at the moment must be seen through the mystery of the cross of Jesus who died and rose again and who calls us to respond to our neighbour with great love.

Our first objective is to keep on proclaiming the Gospel in this young Church, to try to put down the roots of the basic values of peace, honesty, justice and truth in the hearts of the Christians and in the rest of the population which is made up of different faiths and ethnic groups. These basics are vital in order to promote dialogue and a peaceful life together between different religions and ethnic groups, and in order to establish social cohesion which is the key element in building a better future for the Central African people.

Angelo Sala scj

The mission continues also thanks to the help of lay volunteers:
A container is about to leave Italy by boat and will arrive in Bouar & Niem in a few months

“What are we sending? “
Father Piero SCJ sends the equipment necessary for the mission: all kinds of equipment, hospital equipment, furniture, building materials, etc ... We, volunteers of the RAINBOW missionary group, we give him a helping hand ; we send him teaching materials, health care equipment, selected clothing, especially for children, and we try to respond to specific requests of the missionaries, etc. :

For example, Brother Angelo usually makes a list of what he needs for the St Michael health centre (this will be from office stationery - tacks, staplers, printing paper - to cleansing products, disinfectants and even an ice cream maker; this year, he asked me if I could find him feeding bottles for small children who had lost their mother and needed to be fed with artificial milk. Syrups, antibiotics are always useful.. Antivirals are also very useful, although more difficult to send.

Fr. Arialdo favors teaching materials, and the pressure barrels we provide it each year to make cheese ....

Fr. Beniamino, in addition to educational materials, is pleased to get recycled musical instruments like electric pianos or guitars. The baby clothes for the project provided assistance to single mothers and games for the children’s centre are welcome.

Our missionary group prepares all materials for shipping by container (weighed packages, catalogued with a number, brief description and generic description). Many other volunteers bring many more. When Fr. Piero arrives to collect our filled boxes, it’s like party time. It was a bit like being in Africa, children are happy to help out and the atmosphere is very cheerful ...

Paola Ruele (Rainbow Missionary Group, Trento, Northern Italy)