Crisis in the Central African Republic: Dispatch Four

On December 25, 2013, Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga gave his Christmas sermon in the Central African Republic's capital city of Bangui. He discussed the need for reconciliation and forgiveness, but the country's leaders are incapable of stopping—or unwilling to stop—the violence, even as the country spirals deeper into the abyss due to an endless series of revenge killings between Christians and Muslims.

Christmas night, I took refuge in what had probably been a Bangui flophouse in better times. Gunfire cracked in the distance, bullets zipped by, and explosions shook the windows as I sat there in the darkness. No one seemed to know who was fighting, most people were in hiding, and everyone was scared. A French military helicopter circled overhead while I frantically gathered my belongings in case I needed to move in the middle of the night.

Twenty-four hours later, armed militias attacked the presidential palace.

As Nzapalainga told his flock, what had been sectarian strife is now a religious conflict. And Lucifer has taken up residency in the CAR.

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