A senior Christian leader today urged the Central African Republic to take inspiration from Nelson Mandela as he called for reconciliation after a wave of deadly sectarian violence that had turned people into "animals".
As South Africa buried its first black president, Catholic archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga told a mass attended by around 1,500 people that Christians should not respond to violence with violence.
"Many Christians have said that they are going to seek revenge," said Nzapalainga as he delivered his sermon in Bangui a day after a Muslim motorcyclist was hacked to death to death in the capital, where residents later brandished his cut-off hands.
"We have become animals, the abuses go beyond reason when someone is killed and his arms brandished," said the archbishop, before calling on the faithful to take inspiration from the "man of peace and reconciliation" that Mandela was.
Violence between Christians and Muslims has been on the rise since a March coup by the mainly Muslim Seleka rebel group overthrew the president and installed Michel Djotodia, but the unrest has intensified dramatically in recent weeks.
The United Nations has said 600 people have been killed in the carnage of the past 10 days, 450 of them in Bangui, prompting UN chief Ban Ki-moon and local authorities to plead for an end to the atrocities.
Muslim leader Imam Oumar Kobin Layama has also called for reconciliation, saying on last day that Muslims "must not give back as we were given" as he called for calm following the lynching of the motorcyclist.
Djotodia, the majority Christian nation's first Muslim president, said last day he was ready to "extend his hand" and "talk" with Christian militias on issues including an amnesty for their role in the unrest and including them in his transitional government.
"They are not enemies. They are our brothers," he said.
Thousands of Christians in Bangui went to mass today morning despite the still tense atmosphere on the streets of the capital, where French troops are trying to restore security.
