Bishop Antonio Juliasse says ACN continues to be a “friendly hand” which has stuck with the local Church since the beginning of the conflict which has already killed over 5,000 people and displaced over one million.
The Bishop of Pemba, in Mozambique, recalled the seventh anniversary of the beginning of the Islamist insurgency which has devasted the province of Cabo Delgado in the African country.
During a visit to Portugal, on his way back to Mozambique after visiting Rome with other bishops from Mozambique, Bishop António Juliasse told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that these have been “seven years of displacement; seven years of death; seven years during which people have lived with great suffering; of hunger, because they cannot farm their land due to insecurity; of disease, because there is no access to medication, or because the closest clinic has been destroyed. Seven years during which children have not been able to study as they should.”
The insurgency which has already caused over 5,000 deaths and around one million displaced, officially began with the first attack in the town of Mocímboa da Praia, on 5 October 2017. Ironically, this was one day after the Mozambican celebration of the Day of Peace, marking the end of the Civil War with the signing of the Rome General Peace Accords on 4 October 1992, a date the bishop claims to have difficulty in celebrating now.
“Since I have been in Pemba, I have found it difficult to mark 4 October as Peace Day. The truth is that we should be celebrating it as Rome Peace Accords Day, because in Cabo Delgado peace does not exist. Cabo Delgado is part of Mozambique, therefore there is no peace in Mozambique. It is hard for me to listen to speeches where people say that we have peace, when there is no peace in the whole country. When I hear these speeches, I feel there is a certain lack of solidarity with the people of Cabo Delgado, as if this was their problem, and not the country’s problem.”
“But there has been growing awareness among people of good will, wise people in our country, people who think, who speak, who do advocacy for the war to end and for a true peace for all Mozambicans,” the bishop said.
Although Mozambique is mostly Christian, the north of the country, where the insurgency began, is largely Muslim. In its early stages, the Islamists focused mostly on attacking government institutions and spreading terror indiscriminately, but over the past few years, there have been targeted attacks on Christians in Cabo Delgado.
Aid to the Church in Need continues to help the Diocese of Pemba to deal with the fallout of this insurgency and to spread the word about the need to address the violence which has been upsetting life in Cabo Delgado and neighbouring regions for so long.
Bishop António Juliasse did not fail to acknowledge this service. “The Church continues to do what is in its nature, to be with the people, to help those we can help, and to offer what aid we receive. Recently that aid has diminished, but there is always a friendly hand, and for us in Cabo Delgado that has mainly been Aid to the Church in Need, who has always come to our assistance at the most critical times, and who is always ready to help us to save the lives of our brothers and sisters,” he told ACN.
By Paulo Aido.
