We act:
Seeking Dialogue

The importance of inter-religious dialogue in the Central African Republic

It is a frosty March morning in Berlin. The media are reporting on the bomb attack in the mosques in Christchurch/New Zealand. Imam Oumar Kobine Layama from the Central African Republic (CAR) just arrived at the airport in Berlin. He had missed the joint departure with the other representatives of the CAR Interfaith Platform, Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga and Pastor Nicolas Guérékoyme-Gbangou, two days earlier. He came later because dialogue is important to him. An interfaith ecumenical group of different actors is meeting in Berlin to raise their voices in political Berlin for CAR – this forgotten, overlooked and suffering country in the heart of the African continent.

The imam missed a parliamentary breakfast and a visit to the Federal Foreign Office the day before, but there is still enough time for a joint discussion at the “House of One” in Berlin. At the beginning of the day, however, there is first one minute of silence for the victims of the attack in New Zealand. Muslims, Jews, Catholics, evangelical and free church Protestants jointly show solidarity against religiously motivated violence. This is exactly the reason why the work of the Interfaith Platform in the CAR is so important.

Religions are instrumentalised

The Central African Republic is a landlocked country with very rich mineral resources. However, since gaining independence from France in August 1960, the country remains one of the poorest in the world. There have been at least four military coups since the country’s independence. The impact of the last coup in 2013 was felt throughout the country, even in the most remote communities. The different rebel groups in the country are at first glance subject to religious classification, and therefore people often speak of an inter-religious conflict. However, a closer look reveals that the roots of the conflict relate more to access to the country’s resources and access to power. Religions are instrumentalised. Dialogue between religions is one way for the local people (and the world public) to recognise the fatal effect of instrumentalization. Cardinal Nzapalainga, in particular, is very passionate about dialogue and has endured many personal hardships, for example when visiting a refugee camp in the country, which is predominantly inhabited by Christians and has been invaded by Muslim rebels. All this happened under the eyes of the predominantly Muslim UN troops in that area. This is an explosive composition of religiously assigned factors making the situation in the country incredibly complex and making dialogue difficult.

Building the House of Peace – the dialogue continues

The ELM supports these processes of dialogue and networking on an international, ecumenical and interreligious level in close communication with the partner churches. Since ELM’s participation in this dialogue platform, the chorus of voices now includes the Protestant voice, which until then had been rather a weak one. Monitoring this process is an important part of dialogue, and therefore the ELM, together with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the CAR, is committed to the Interfaith Platform and is supporting the process and networking.

Thus, we directly experience that the vision of a “House of Peace” (Maison de la Paix) in the capital of CAR is being discussed in Berlin. And we learn that interreligious dialogue is characterised by small steps forward, but often also by apparently larger steps back. Nevertheless, the dialogue continues because giving up is not an option.

Hannah Rose