Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, a religious of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Archbishop of Bangui, Central African Republic, is one of the three African bishops who are members of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod (the other two are Monsignor Andrew Nkea Fuanya, Archbishop of Bamenda and Monsignor Gabriel Mbilingi, C.S.Sp., Archbishop of Lubango, Angola).
Born on 14 March 1967 in Mbomou, in the diocese of Bangassou, Central African Republic, he is one of the youngest cardinals in the world (only four are younger, ed.) and the first Central African cardinal. He was ordained a priest on 9 August 1998.
In the following years he furthered his studies in France and then returned to the Central African Republic in 2005 to serve as Superior General of his congregation. Appointed Apostolic Administrator of Bangui on 26 May 2009, he was chosen by Benedict XVI as the fourth Metropolitan Archbishop of the capital on 14 May 2012.
And on the following 22 July, Cardinal Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, conferred episcopal ordination on him. He became President of the Episcopal Conference of the Central African Republic in 2013 and was created and published by Pope Francis as Cardinal in the Consistory of 19 November 2016, of the Title of Saint Andrea della Valle.
In a country torn apart by a long and bitter conflict, by political and economic oppositions, which have unfortunately involved ethnic groups and faiths historically at peace with each other, Dieudonné Nzapalainga has made pastoral service in the search for peace his main commitment. Precisely at a time of a serious upsurge in clashes, in December 2013, when the anti-Balaka militias (heavily Christian militias opposed to the pro-Islamic groups that made up the Seleka formation, ed.) launched a frightening military campaign against Muslims killing about a thousand of them and forcing many more to flee, Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga welcomed Imam Omar Layama, president of the Central African Islamic Community, and his family, as well as thousands of Muslims fleeing the anti-Balaka, into his residence. The two, for their closeness and joint effort for peace, deserve the title ‘twins of God’.
Q: How has the synodal path been and continues to be in your country? What can you tell us about the participation and interest among the Central African faithful? Has the Synod also reached other faiths or denominations in any way?
“The experience of the Synod on Synodality in my country was unique because the Holy Father asked us to begin the work at the grassroots level, starting with the people, the parish, the diocese, and then reaching the continent and from there to Rome. And we launched the project to the parishes to come together to discuss synodality in order to promote a way of seeing, praying, moving forward together.
We also asked our Protestant brothers to come and share some moments and explain to us how they understand synodality. And it was enriching to understand how the Protestant synod system works, because for them synod has a meaning that we are not used to. All this offered us a different way of thinking, seeing, acting, from different perspectives.
In this sense it was important for us to share these stages of preparation for the Synod also together with the Muslims, we invited them and made a common path. We work together and seek solutions together: how do you Muslims act, think, handle things, and how do the faithful support you?
Very useful answers came to us and for my country, there was work at the grassroots level that proved useful and this is what I proposed to the bishops, we shared all this and with this spirit we came to Rome”.
Q: More than 60 years ago the Second Vatican Council was inaugurated, an event that profoundly transformed the Church and the world itself. Perhaps for the first time, the breadth of the continents, the joys, the sorrows, the hopes of the world were strongly felt. Do you believe that this Synod represents a fundamental step along the path triggered by the Council?
“Just think that just before I came to Rome, I was discussing with a French theologian Christoph Theobald who told me exactly that the Synod has the air of a council because it has involved lay people, theologians, nuns, it has given a full voice to the laity who in fact vote like the bishops, there is a great openness and this can bring the spirit in better.
The young people and all the people are with us and they tell us about their situation, it is a great change, the spirit blows, we are all children of God and we listen to each other and respect each other and each in his own way brings the Good News.
The problems in Africa, for example, there is a way of looking at them from different angles. The laity, the people who live in the neighbourhoods, in the villages, know the situation inside out and by virtue of their baptism are themselves the light of the world.
We must tell the crowds that Christ is here, in this house church, Christ dwells in the marketplace, he is present everywhere: it is high time we gave the word directly to these people without intermediaries.
It is indeed a great change that we are making that allows us to have humility and to welcome the message that comes from the laity and from the people, and I must be able to listen to how the spirit flows through hearts, how it informs decisions. My role is to accompany and say that God is present”.
Q: Africa is increasingly entering the Church’s internal debate, there were more than 60 representatives at the synodal assemblies, more cardinals. Do you feel that the continent is finally at the centre of the universal Church and no longer a peripheral reality? If so, what changes are you noticing and what changes do you think will come about as a result of this Synod?
“The Church in Africa is on the march, close to the people and many people have many expectations. The Church is denouncing and taking a stand, calling for change. The number of Christians is increasing, as well as the number of priests, nuns and seminarians, the breath is coming, there are many people at mass on Sundays, and our services can last up to four hours. So you can see that this church in Africa has something special to contribute to the universal church.
Many African cardinals are young, the bishop of Juba, South Sudan, for example, is 59 years old. There are no oppositions, they are overcome because Jesus is a servant and he wants us all in service and when we are in service we remember or repeat the gesture of when he got down on his knees and washed the apostles’ feet: we do not have to claim a place.
I as cardinal and bishop make myself available to bring a new way of seeing for Africa and thinking about Africa because every people has a genius, a wealth. With us the concept of community is fundamental, we always say that the “child is the son of the village” and this way of thinking helps us not to retreat into the individual but to open ourselves up to welcome and collaborate so that society can change, this is the vision that we must bring as pastors.
It is very important to point out that even in the Holy Father’s government here in Rome, there is an African cardinal, Cardinal Ambongo, who is part of the C9, there is a great trust of the Pope towards this church and we, as pastors, must bring this hope. To those who understandably complain saying: ‘there are no more vocations from us, we bring hope: there are, there are many young people from us’.
Q: Is it important for African priests and religious to be present in Western societies?
“Yes of course, but there is a need for deep reflection, I often talk about this with my African brothers. There are priests who regularly come to Europe or go to the US and not to other countries in Africa. I would like to reiterate clearly: “Africans be your own missionaries”, many leave to study for Europe, but it can also be done in Africa.
For example, I receive priests from the Democratic Republic of Congo, we started a fruitful collaboration with Cardinal Ambongo and it works very well. I receive priests from Benin, Togo, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville. They are all called to announce the Good News and we receive them as a gift, they bear witness to the faith of a people, of a church”.
Q: You are a representative of a Church living in a country in conflict, can you give us an update on the situation? You and the religious leaders have always been at the forefront in promoting peace and dialogue, how are you acting at this time to promote an end to the conflict?
“There is a fatal war going on in my country, many families have lost members, there are neighbourhoods or towns razed to the ground, people have imagined themselves as enemies for a long time. The rumours that circulated made people think it was a religious war: it is not. I am Catholic, I meet with imams, Protestant pastors, brothers and sisters who suffer and cry and have no food, regardless of the religious group they belong to.
On the contrary, different faiths can come together to save lives, leave dogmas aside and come together to defend the poor, oppressed, to save the violated women: when a person is created in the image of God I do not look at religion, he or she is a child of God and a brother or sister of Christ. I stand beside him or her and walk with him or her.
In our country, by coming together, we have defended the idea that one can be different but united, union in diversity, an asset not a handicap. In the Koran there are verses that speak of forgiveness and mercy, we need to recall them and bring them out, we need to tell our faithful, to calm them, to prevent them from remaining in revenge and violence.
To disarm the heart and bring the breath of love back into the hearts of our faithful, to change their gaze, to tell them to look at the Islamic person as a brother not an enemy: this is what we are called to do. Even if he made the mistake we condemn the mistake not the person, let us all unite and defend because Jesus asked us to be one, not just with Catholics. Christ gave his life for all, without looking at affiliation. Jesus did not act and speak only for the Jews but for all. If I am a friend of Jesus I must overcome tribe, ethnicity, enough of this obsession with region of origin, tribe, faith”.
Q: Is there still fighting?
“There is still fighting in some villages unfortunately. I go to these areas regularly, without fear, I go there in the name of Jesus. “I know you are armed,” I tell them, “but I come to listen to you” I must say with much happiness that many leave their weapons. We disarm them with the word. Also because both we Christians and Muslims, are religions of the word”.
Q: Are we close to the end of the conflict?
“We are changing the situation, poverty plays an important role so many have exploited young people by offering them to earn some money. We ask that there be justice and young people can work, work is already peace. But you have to go slowly. It takes time it is not a matter of a month. you have to knock on the door of the heart and invite to accept love, reconciliation.
Q: Can you tell us what significance this synod has for your country and, more generally, for those many tense situations in the world, so much represented in the Synod assemblies?
“The Synod is like a new breath. I came out of myself, out of my country where people think a lot about war, to meet others who bring other topics, different problems. You have to listen to them just as they have to listen to me. I will leave and tell everyone the Church is on the march towards a kingdom that is to come. Stand up and shake hands, we are not enemies. We are like the disciples of Emmaus who walked with fears and anxieties: but Jesus is near. Be missionaries, open up, see others and make the tree of peace grow in my country and in the world”.
