Priest saved lives of 700 Muslims in Central African Republic
February 28, 2014
A newly ordained priest saved the lives of 700 Muslims in Boali, a town of 9,000 in the Central African Republic, according to a report in The Globe and Mail, one of Canada’s leading newspapers.
“When the Muslims were attacked” by anti-balaka militias, “the people didn’t help them,” said Father Xavier-Arnauld Fagba, who was ordained in October. “That’s when I decided to look for them and bring them here. I did it in the name of my faith.”
Father Fagba went door to door to warn the Muslims of the impending danger and invited them to seek refuge in the church, where they have lived for six weeks. On February 4, the church sustained damage from machine-gun fire.
The anti-balaka militias were originally self-defense organizations that arose in opposition to the Islamist Séléka militias that attacked Christian institutions and held sway in the nation from March 2013 until January 2014. In recent months, anti-balaka forces have engaged in revenge attacks upon Muslims. Church leaders have denounced violence on both sides.
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