Catholicism in the Central African Republic

The first Europeans appeared on the territory of the modern CAR only at the end of the 19th century , in 1889 the French expedition founded the fort of Bangui , after 4 years the first Catholic mission began to operate there ^[1] . In 1903, the French colony of Ubangi-Shari was established.

On May 8, 1909, the Apostolic Prefecture of Ubangi-Shari (now the Archdiocese of Bangui ) was established, in 1937 it was elevated to the status of Apostolic Vicariate , and in 1955 received the status of an archdiocese , which was subordinated to the newly founded Diocese of Berberati ^[3] . From 1955 to 2004, 7 more dioceses were founded in the country.

In 1938, the first priest of local origin, Barthelemy Boganda , was ordained as the largest figure in the movement for the independence of the CAR ^[1] In 1960, the independence of the CAR was proclaimed, David Daco became the first president, but already in 1966 he was overthrown by Jean Bedel Bokassa , who established a tough dictatorship in the country, proclaimed himself the president for life and then the emperor. Religious views of the eccentric dictator were vague, in particular, in 1976, after meeting with Muammar Gaddafi, he converted to Islam , but after a few months he returned to Catholicism ^[4] . The Catholic Church under Bokassa was not subjected to persecution and, despite the difficulties of the political situation, continued to develop ^[1] . In 1970, the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of the country ^{[5] was formed} , in the same year full-fledged diplomatic relations were established with the Holy See and the Apostolic Nunciature was opened in Bangui ^[6] . After the fall of the Bokassa regime, no significant changes occurred in the church life, despite the series of military coups and general instability.

In 2012, a civil war broke out in the country, which in many ways bore the features of the Christian-Muslim conflict ^[7] . The immediate reason for the conflict was the seizure of power by the Muslim Michel Jotodiya , the leader of the Muslim group Selek . Muslim armed groups carried out killings, robberies, rape, torture and kidnapping, acting mainly against Christian civilians ^[8] . For armed confrontation with them, Christians began to form their anti-balak associations, which also carried out terror against the Muslim population ^[9] . On July 24, 2014, the warring parties signed an armistice agreement ^[10] , however, clashes between individual armed groups took place after the signing of the peace ^[11] .

In 1985, the Central African Republic was visited by Pope John Paul II , and in 2015 by Pope Francis ^[12] . In 2016, Gyödonna Nezpalainga became the first cardinal in the history of the CAR.

The collegial body for the management of the Catholic Church in the country is the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of the Central African Republic .

Catholics of the Central African Republic form the second largest religious community in the country (22% of the population), yielding to Protestants (37%) and ahead of Muslims (15%) ^[1] . There are 277 priests in the country, 114 parishes ^[2] . Organizationally, the parishes are united into the archdiocese of Bangui and 8 eparchies subordinate to it: the Diocese of Alindao , the Diocese of Bambari , the Diocese of Bangas , the Diocese of Berberati , the Diocese of Bosango , the Diocese of Bouar , the Diocese of Kaga-Bandoro and the Diocese of Mbaika ^[[ Diocese of Bouar , Diocese of Kaga-Bandoro and Mbaika Diocese ^{] [}

• “Central African Republic” // Catholic Encyclopedia , Vol.5. M.: 2013, art. 141-142.

• Information on the website catholic-hierarchy.org (English)
• Information on gcatholic.org (English)