HLI made its first pro-life missionary trip to the Central African Republic (C.A.R.) when George Wirnkar, our regional coordinator for French-speaking Africa, and I flew there this past November. It was somewhat easier for George to arrive, since Cameroon and the C.A.R. share a long border. From the US, however, one has to fly first to Paris and then catch the one flight offered each week to the capital city of Bangui.

Considering its many natural wonders, the Central African Republic could be a premier tropical tourism destination; instead, it is in disastrous shape. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranks the Central African Republic 168th out of 175 countries surveyed in its Human Development Index. Tourist guides to the C.A.R. include warnings about the violence and unrest that are unpredictable and potentially very dangerous.

 A COUNTRY VICTIMIZED BY SLAVE TRADERS

What saddened me the most, however, was the excellent book by Pierre Saulnier I read there. It lists the population estimates for the C.A.R. in the 17th century at between 5 and 6 million people.[1] The best available statistics for the current population approximates it at 4.5 million. What happened? The demographic disaster of slave raids did not cease until the very end of the 19th century. Imagine my surprise to learn that the primary culprits were Arab and Muslim slave traders from the Sudan and Zanzibar and from the northern region of Chad. "As recently as the 19th century 20,000 slaves were sold each year on the Egyptian market." [2]

In the midst of severe economic and political difficulties, the Church has grown dramatically and is a dynamic presence in that society. Here are some numbers that illustrate this fact: In 1905, the C.A.R., which is about the size of France, had 450 baptized Catholics in the entire country. By 2000, the number had grown to 708,000 Catholics. The first Central African priest was ordained in 1938. In the year 2000, they had 137 indigenous priests. George Wirnkar and I spoke at the major seminary outside Bangui, which currently has 138 seminarians.

Archbishop Paulin Pomodimo of Bangui received us very kindly. The chancellor of the archdiocese was even sent to pick me up from the airport. Our mission of supporting the Church in defending the right to life and the family corresponds closely with their priorities. We were introduced to Fr. Ignace Bikowo, who recently graduated from the Frenchspeaking John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Benin. He is just putting into place a pastoral plan for defending life and the family.

Experience has taught us that a most effective way to spread the pro-life message is to use Catholic radio. Fortunately, we found a strong ally in Fr. Bertrand Ballay, director of Radio Notre Dame. He invited us to participate in several interviews, and even call-in shows, during the week of our visit. We discussed all the major topics concerning the culture of death, but AIDS came to the fore as the most serious issue.

The Central African Republic has an HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 13.5%[3] among adults, which is the 9th worst in the world. The problem is definitely getting worse, as sexual morality and faithfulness in marriage are not the focus of AIDS prevention efforts. One government employee told me that, when looking at the "AIDS Map" of the country, the areas well known for strong families and marriages had a very low incidence of infection. No one at the national AIDS office seems interested in following up on this insight.

Condoms are being widely promoted in the C.A.R. I saw billboards for the "lover's plus" brand with the name curiously written in English. The local International Planned Parenthood Federation affiliate is deeply implicated in the condom campaigns. Numerous other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the government health centers are also distributing many condoms in order to saturate their society with them. On the positive side, abortion is illegal, and there is little talk of changing the law in this very pro-childbearing culture. The average family still has 4.2 children.

We spoke with a Catholic nun who leads a major group caring for AIDS sufferers. She has 800 women enrolled who receive the latest drugs. It is truly amazing to see her "before and after" pictures of AIDS-infected persons who look on the brink of death before and perfectly healthy after treatment. A major problem she told us about, however, was the fact that many ladies, who feel fine thanks to their medication, say they want to marry and have children. But, even if their symptoms are virtually gone, they remain HIV-positive and capable of infecting others. The billions of dollars worth of AIDS medication being sent to Africa from the US and other donor countries are slowly transforming the disease for many into an expensive-to-treat chronic condition.

One area that is extremely troubling is the arrival of the Sexual Revolution in the C.A.R. A concernedfather told me he had to withdraw his daughters from a high school where prostitution was being organized among the students. Predatory men had managed to corrupt some school girls into becoming their "pimps." At-risk girls typically would receive "gifts" such as cell phones, etc., and then they would be told that they would have to pay for these or provide sexual favors. The teachers in the school did not realize what was going on for a long time. (This situation is not quite as bad as the many scandals from South Africa, where teachers were demanding sex for good grades.) Prostitution remains a big factor in the Central African AIDS epidemic.

 CATHOLIC APOSTOLATE HELPS C.A.R. COUPLES AND FAMILIES

One of the groups that will hopefully be able to turn the tide in favor of healthy marriages and families is the Equipes Notre Dame (Teams of Our Lady). Archbishop Pomodimo strongly encouraged us to meet with their leadership and work together. They invited us to a planning meeting and accepted our gifts of molds to produce models of 10-weekold preborn children. These are excellent educational tools to teach children in schools and to help convince mothers not to go through with an abortion. We also brought copies of pro-life films and St. Michael the Archangel prayer cards in French.

The Equipes Notre Dame consists of small groups of married couples who meet regularly to pray together and to discuss their faith and family challenges. It is an excellent support network for Catholics and has a strong component of spirituality. Most remarkable in the Central African Republic is the high caliber of the members, both intellectually and in terms of social position. They can closely monitor the political situation to make sure that no legislation to legalize abortion is brought forward secretly.

Both George and I perceived that the Central African Republic has been spared the aggressive attacks of the abortion promoters until now because the political situation has been so unstable there. As an extremely poor country, however, they are vulnerable to financial blackmail by international institutions. On the other hand, the strong pro-child culture of the C.A.R. and the influence of the Catholic Church are strong bulwarks for the protection of the right to life.

HLI plans to continue working closely with the Church and lay apostolates in the Central African Republic to spread pro-life information and materials. We shall be taking advantage of the well-developed Catholic radio network to air our new HLI programs in French. (An interesting side note here was the news that Radio Notre Dame's transmitter is strong enough to reach the whole country, but the government refuses to grant them the rights to reach further than the area surrounding the capital.)

 PARKS FOR HUMANS, ANIMALS FREE TO ROAM

As I was leaving Central Africa, I learned that a large percentage of the country consists of national parks. Central Africans confided to me that they were scandalized by the largely white international environmentalist groups and visitors who demand the elimination of the black human presence from these areas, where populations have lived for thousands of years. The cruel irony of treating humans as pests to be eradicated and animals and plants as invaluable resources is not lost on the people of Africa. It is certainly not the balanced environmentalism that the Church advocates, with man as a steward of nature. HLI recognizes the inverted priorities of radical environmental groups who would "park" humans and subject them to population control while engaging in idolatrous worship of animals and wilderness as a modern manifestation of the culture of death.

Endnotes

1 Pierre Saulnier, La République Centrafricaine: Géographie, Histoire, Savona, 2005 p. 52.

2 Lonely Planet Guide, "Central African Republic" 2008 p. 529.

3 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2155rank.html