St. John was fortunate enough to have Summer assistance from the Society of Missionaries of Africa (SMA) from 2005 until 2010. Fr. Nongo, whose homeland is the Central Republic of Africa, was the first SMA priest to arrive at St. John’s. At that time Fr. Nongo was studying in Strasbourg, France. Last July, he was appointed Bishop of the Diocesan of Bossangoa located in the North West section of the Central Republic of Africa. Below is another letter we received from Fr. Nongo which mentions the tremendous suffering and faith of his Nation. We request your prayers for him and for the citizens of the Central Republic of Africa.
Hi Father,
Human nature seems to be crazy when we consider some of the behaviour people put up. The recent happenings in Boston during the marathon and the socio-political crisis in the Central African Republic stand as proof to that.
Mostly for economic reasons, human dignity has been neglected. Some of the so called democratic countries have sponsored rebellions to get rid of a man, the ousted president. The coup has been followed by a lot of atrocities: raping, kidnapping, looting, destruction of private and administrative proprieties, getting hold of people’s houses, killings/murder, maiming and the like. The rebellions have been organized by the French who used the president of Chad. Most of the rebels are mercenaries from Chad and Sudan.
Beyond the political agenda, the real intention of those who got to power is to establish sharia law in the country. They want to destabilize the catholic church. That is why they committed a lot of destruction to our various institutions: theft of cars, garage and technical materials, destruction of clinics, schools, radios… In my diocese, there are parishes and religious communities where every thing has been stolen. The priests and sisters don’t have a place to lie their head. Even spoons, forks, and knives have been taken away. The situation is near to chaos. There seems not to be a solution to this crisis so far; those who consider themselves to be the leaders persist in falsehood and lie. We keep on praying for peace so that God will help overcome this crisis.
I wish to record my appreciation to you for the financial help you sent me for the development of my diocese. I intended using this money to complete the donation I received in view of establishing a dental clinic in Bossangoa. In the present situation of instability, I’d better wait a little bit. My regards to all the parishioners from Saint John the Evangelist. – Nestor
