An Ecumenical Contribution to Resolving Conflict.

Daimbaye, Mirana

In recent years, an unprecedented series of crises has plunged the peaceful Central African Republic (CAR), left to us by its founding president Barthelemy Boganda (1958-59), into a conflict which is military, political, social and -- sad to say -- to an increasing degree, ethnic.

Faced with this situation, the international community intervened initially by sending in an inter-African peace-keeping force (MISAB), then a United Nations force (MINURCA), and in the last few months by setting up a United Nations peace-building office (BONUCA).

Among various local movements which have been formed to try to resolve the conflict there is one that is ecumenical and run by women: the Network of Women of Faith Mediating for Peace. This is the experience I would like to share with you, but first I should like to say a few words about the recent history of the Central African Republic, since our country is little known in the ecumenical world, and briefly describe the churches there.

A country in crisis

The recent history of the CAR has been marked by a succession of crises which have had very grave consequences for the whole population, and have seriously affected the structures of government as well. These crises were:

-- a first mutiny by the national army on 18 April 1996, demanding payment of wage arrears;

-- a second mutiny on 18 May, demanding the application of the April Accords; a week later this turned into an attempted coup, with the expulsion of foreigners and the intervention of the French army,

-- a third mutiny in November 1996 and an attempted coup d'etat, a crisis which lasted several weeks, with the intervention of the French army.

These insurrections were accompanied by violence of all kinds -- pillaging, displacement of population, exactions by soldiers and militias of one sort or another, destruction of houses, rape, settling of personal accounts, disappearances, bloodshed and death. And increasingly the victims are civilians.

A reign of terror set in. Everyone was frightened; people were fleeing en masse from the city of Bangui. It seemed as though everyone had taken the law into their own hands, and was meting out their own justice. The inter-ethnic divide grew wider.(1)

In fact, tribalism and division along ethnic lines has never been a problem in the CAR. The national language, Sango, is spoken throughout the country and intermarriage has been a powerful unifying factor. Successive governments after independence -- those of Boganda (1958-59), Dacko (1960-65), Bokassa (1966-79), and Dacko (1979-81) -- did not in fact practise tribalism.

It was Kolingba (1981-83) who first introduced an ethnic and family dimension to the exercise of state power, and the Patasse regime (1993-) has taken this still further. It almost seems as though the introduction of a multi-party system and democracy has exacerbated tribalism and engendered a conflictual society.

A deeply religious country

Like all the peoples of Africa, those of central Africa are deeply religious. In the CAR, more than 60 percent of the population are Christians, with a majority of Protestants. New denominations are constantly appearing. Islam forms a minority, made up largely of foreign traders and cattle breeders (from Senegal, Mali and Chad) and a small Central African community. Traditional religious practices are still very much alive.

Divided and fragmented churches

The churches are called to unity as the gospel requires: "that they may all be one ... so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me" (John 17:20-23). Unfortunately certain legacies of missionary history have, as yet, prevented the central African churches from achieving the gospel ideal of unity, and the recent socio-political history of the country has further accentuated the fragmentation within the Protestant churches.

When the first Protestant missionaries arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries they occupied specific zones allocated to them by the French colonial power, that is, the Brethren mission in the north west, the Baptist Mid-Mission in the east, the Lutheran mission in the west. One serious consequence of this system is that today we find ourselves with Protestant churches of an ethnic and regional stamp.

The Roman Catholic Church, on the other hand, as the church of the colonizers had the privilege of extending across the country.

In broad outline, the picture of Central African Protestantism looks like this:

-- some; large churches linked with the mother-church, coming mainly from the United States (Baptist Mid-Mission, Evangelical Church of the Brethren);

-- some large churches emerging from these, as a result of opposition to the missionaries (Fellowship of Baptist Churches, National Associations of Baptist Churches);

-- a number of churches emerging from the second category above as a result of schisms, not for theological or doctrinal reasons, but because of disagreements, often about leadership;

-- an ever-growing plethora of denominations, chiefly of a Pentecostal and charismatic nature.

An anti-ecumenical theology

Basically, all these churches have a similar theology, inherited from the missionaries, which strongly affirms the dichotomy between the religious life and present socio-economic realities: heaven is seen as the sole object of Christian striving, and earthly reality as the domain of Satan. In face of the present, increasingly harsh and difficult earthly realities, the new denominations hold out religion as a magic solution to all the problems of poverty, disease and socio-political crisis afflicting us today.

One consequence of the theologies prevailing in the CAR is a strongly anti-ecumenical current among the majority of the population. This anti-ecumenism dates back to the 1960s and 1970s, when the missionaries were against the WCC, which was held to be "in league with communism". This explains the complete lack of any ecumenical structures whatsoever in the churches in the CAR. There is, however, an association of churches of fundamentalist, evangelical obedience, the Evangelical Alliance in Central Africa (EAC), set up in the 1980s. Given their theology, this association of churches is fairly limited in its discourse and hence also in its response to the grave crises and conflicts affecting the country.

The ecumenical current in the CAR is represented by the Protestant Church of Christ the King, a Reformed church, very much a minority, and a small section of the Catholic church. Relations are restricted to a few personal friendships and to some meetings during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

As for the Catholic church, it is a force to be reckoned with, first of all in terms of resources, because the great majority of its clergy are Europeans and there are many missionary congregations. It is also strong organizationally because of its unity, unlike the Protestant churches which are very divided. And it is strong in terms of strategy because it does in-depth work with the people (education, health, spirituality). It also has a strong bishops' conference which challenges both Christians and the authorities at every opportunity. Because it is so powerful, the Catholic church feels no need to join with any other church in order to act.

This brief description of the churches in the Central African Republic explains why the ecumenical movement is practically non-existent there, and why there is no structure like a Christian council which would normally be involved in socio-political questions, far less a community concerned about inter-religious dialogue.

Nevertheless, in response to the crisis that hit the CAR in 1996-97, the country witnessed a very interesting and rather unusual ecumenical movement which started from the local community, was outside official church structures, and was launched mainly by women.

The Network of Women of Faith Mediating for Peace

The movement of Women of Faith came into being in December 1996, at the height of the crisis, during the mutinies, in the midst of the fighting. There was gunfire everywhere, many families were fleeing Bangui. Total confusion reigned, the government was overwhelmed by the situation, and there seemed no way out of the crisis.

It was at this point that a few women decided they wanted to do something and we realized that only the Eternal God could deliver us from the evil spirits which were seeking to destroy our beloved country: the spirits of hatred, violence, meanness, destruction, distrust and murder. Joined then by dozens of other women of faith, the movement of Women of Faith was able to organize its first meeting on 20 December 1996 in the sports stadium in Bangui, when we saw thousands of men and women of different religious confessions praying together to our God for the thing that was on all our hearts, unity and peace in Central Africa. On this occasion, President Amadou Toumani Toure, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, arranged a meeting for us with the parties in the conflict. So we set out bare-footed to speak to our warring children, the presidency of the republic and the mutineers, and we handed each of them a memorandum and a Bible.

Since that day we have joined the circle of the "peace-makers", in the place where the Lord has guided and upheld us.

From prayer to political action

As its name suggests, the Women of Faith movement is formed by women of different religious confessions -- Catholic and Protestant Christians, and Muslims. The incredible thing, given the situation in Central Africa, is that for all their differences these women -- who did not even know each other before -- can now sit down and pray together. Without any great theological or ecclesiological debates they simply came together to pray. They all shared the same strong conviction that God can intervene in military-political crises and that we need to gather together in love and unity to overcome the evils that are besetting and destroying our beautiful country. The Women of Faith are thus totally committed to peace and national reconciliation.

Thus simple, ordinary women, mothers of families without a great deal of education suddenly found themselves catapulted into the political arena because of their will for peace. They have become valued interlocutors in efforts to resolve the conflict in Central Africa; they have taken part in all the consultations and meetings aimed at finding a solution; and the various UN missions treat the Women of Faith movement as a reliable partner.

Parallel to these efforts, the women place great emphasis on the importance of working with young people and adults in their local communities, to educate them for peace and reconciliation. The Women of Faith have earned such credibility, on the one hand, because they have not alienated themselves from this or that party or tendency, and on the other, because everything they do is done with commitment, simplicity and humility. Yet their faith makes them strong.

Their actions are guided and supported by prayer. In the serious crises shaking our country, they talk to the government and to the opposition parties, the trade unions and all the partners in society; they suggest attitudes to adopt, and steps to be taken to resolve the conflicts; and they urge the population to avoid any kind of violence. They organize prayer gatherings, humbling themselves before their God to draw strength and offer intercessions. The Women of Faith were very active after the crisis of 1996-97, and during the election periods in 1998 and 1999, urging the population to take part in the elections in a peaceful and dignified manner. Before the presidential elections of November 1999 they organized a large rally to which they invited all the candidates together with their wives, campaign directors and youth organizers. And they came. At the rally, the women issued a call for peaceful behaviour and unity.

Nothing rash or improvised

The first thing we learned in the Women of Faith movement was listening; listening to the other woman who is different from me in so many ways -- in her religion, her ethnic origin, the district she lives in ... And in listening, I learn and I begin to know the other person, to learn about her religion and to understand her vision. The Spirit prompts me to make space for this other woman who is my sister, and then the miracle happens: respect for the sensitivity of the other comes quite naturally, without great intellectual or doctrinal discussions. The Catholic tries to restrain her appeals to the "Virgin Mary" so as not to shock the Protestant, the Muslim likewise for the Prophet Mohammed, and all of us together address the Almighty God, Creator God, Father God. Then when our differences do emerge, when we speak of our Saviour Jesus Christ, or they pray in Arabic or read us Suras from the Koran, mutual respect is there.

The scope of the work, the depth and seriousness required for such a commitment led us to organize ourselves. We produced our statutes and constituted ourselves as the Network of Women of Faith Mediating for Peace at the beginning of 1999. Then we set up cells in each municipal district of Bangui and in the outskirts. There are also a few core groups in the provinces and we have a national office.(2) The members of the cells meet regularly for prayer together and they also have the task of fostering a culture of peace in their neighbourhood.

One of our priorities therefore is to offer training for these women. We have organized several series of training courses which have reached more than two hundred women. The formation focuses on three fundamental themes in the activities of the Women of Faith:

1) the theological basis: God's demands are unity, peace and fellowship among human beings; a priest, an imam and a pastor addressed us on these subjects;

2) why women are concerned in consolidating peace: here we touched on gender issues and women's responsibility in all areas of life;

3) mediation techniques.

After the presentations and debates the women re-enact situations of conflict and mediation they have identified.

Involvement in the meetings and training sessions has been a genuine impulse for emancipation for each of the women, making them aware of their responsibility and their potential power in public life and in their religious community.

The constraints

Constraints remain, all the same. These derive chiefly from the fact that we are women and that we belong to a religious community. As women, we are not supposed to have power, we are supposed to stay at home. As women belonging to a religious community we are supposed to follow and obey our religious leaders and say nothing. This being so, some religious leaders -- Protestant, Catholic and Muslim -- refuse to allow the women of their communities to join Women of Faith. Their refusal is not for nothing; they are terrified and nonplussed to see this active ecumenism among women in local communities, all the more so because, as we explained earlier, most of our congregations are fundamentalist and anti-ecumenical.

But by the grace of God, little by little, the Network of Women of Faith is overturning opposition. Oikoumene, the whole inhabited earth -- this is the conviction and the dream of the women of faith; we celebrate this earth, this country which God has given us to share as Christians, Muslims, people of other religions or none.

Women are thus the leaven of ecumenism in the Central African Republic. We are continuing to learn and benefit from each experience granted to us so that we can keep moving forward in our work as women of faith -- women with bare hands, women of courage, energy and spirit, driven by two compelling forces: faith in God and strong conviction that prayer is an effective weapon in the fight against the forces of evil; and dream of a united Central Africa where life is good for everyone.

NOTES

(1) While this article was being written a coup d'etat took place during the night of 27-28 May 2001 and the gunfire was continuous.

(2) The current president is Marie Juliette Gbesse, and the office of the Women of Faith Network is at the Protestant Church of Christ the King, P.O. Box 608, Bangui/RCA.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Analyser la fracture inter-ethnique que connait notre pays, Bangui, Foyer de charite, 1997.

Panorama des Eglises centrafricaines, Luc Diambaye, 1985.

Carlo Toso, Centrafrique: un siecle d'evangelisation, Bangui, 1994.

Mirana Daimbaye is a pastor of the Protestant Church of Christ the King in Bangui, Central African Republic, and coordinates the department for women, young women and children.