Bangassou, Central African Republic, Apr 15, 2013 / 15:26 pm
In the midst of a conflict between the government of the Central African Republic and the rebel Séléka coalition, the Church is suffering from fighting and theft by rebel forces, a local bishop said.
"The plundering continues, day and night, at any time. The terrified people do not flee, but weep, and try to defend the little they still have," Bishop Juan-José Aguirre Muñoz of the Diocese of Bangassou told Aid to the Church in Need on April 4.
Bishop Aguirre is a priest of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus and has been Bangassou's bishop since 2000. Bangassou is located in the east of the nation, on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Central African Republic also borders Cameroon, Chad, Sudan and South Sudan. Most of the nation's citizens are Christian, though significant minorities practice indigenous religions or Islam.