- Title: IVORY COAST: Christians pray for peace during Sunday Mass in Abidjan
- Date: 18th April 2011
- Summary: ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (APRIL 17, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS CHURCH EXTERIOR AND ABIDJAN RESIDENTS VARIOUS CHURCH INTERIOR, PRIEST LEADING MASS VARIOUS OF WORSHIPERS SINGING (SOUNDBITE) (French) DANIEL MELEDJE, SAINT ETIENNE PARISH PRIEST, SAYING "We would like this peace to come from God. If it comes from God, it will touch all our hearts. During these times when difficulties sweep our country, it's the moment to ask of each of us to relinquish our hearts. We seek peace so we can be the architects of peace. Where there is peace, we can live in happiness. If there is no peace, we cannot reconcile each other. We need this peace so we can all be reconciled with each other." VARIOUS OF SISTER GIVING COMMUNION TO CHURCHGOERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) WORSHIPER, SAYING: "Give us responsible politicians endowed with the Holy Spirit. Touch all our hearts. Reveal your spirit to everyone and that they (politicians) agree to end the misery and suffering of their brothers and sisters." VARIOUS OF CHURCHGOERS WORSHIPPING (SOUNDBITE) (French) DEBLAISE HONORAT KOUAO, PRESIDENT OF THE PARISH COUNCIL, SAYING: "We have been pressured, and pushed. We hid to stay alive. We hope that this is peace, and that this peace has arrived, we bless the name of the Lord. We really want peace. Christians and Muslims, we have all worked together during these times. We have organized mass services here, in mosques just in order to seek peace, and we believe that this peace will come." VARIOUS OF CHURCH CHOIR MEMBERS
- Embargoed: 3rd May 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Cote d'Ivoire
- Country: Ivory Coast
- Topics: Domestic Politics,Religion
- Reuters ID: LVAAMU2ZHBC1J9GQON31QORPL33D
- Story Text: Abidjan Christians pray for peace during Sunday Mass following an eight month long standoff which escalated into civil war.
As relative calm returns to the embattled streets of Abidjan, Ivorian residents joined in on Sunday (April 17) mass celebrations during which prayers for peace were uttered.
Ivory Coast endured an eight month long political standoff which escalated into civil war, and culminating with the arrest of former President Laurent Gbagbo by forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara and French troops last weeks.
Abidjan residents whose city was a veritable warzone last week relished the sense of calm as they solemnly hoped that peace would endure.
"We would like this peace to come from God. If it comes from God, it will touch all our hearts. During these times when difficulties sweep our country, it's the moment to ask of each of us to relinquish our hearts. We seek peace so we can be the architects of peace. Where there is peace, we can live in happiness. If there is no peace, we cannot reconcile each other. We need this peace so we can all be reconciled with each other," said Daniel Meledje, a Saint Etienne Parish Priest.
At least 800 lost their lives during the Ivorian crisis according to last week's United Nations figures and are expected to rise.
Current President Alassane Outtara now faces tough challenges in trying to heal the country's deep wounds. Yet, as the capital's residents pray for reconciliation, the current ruler's capacity to bring the country together is already being questioned.
"Give us responsible politicians endowed with the Holy Spirit. Touch all our hearts. Reveal your spirit to everyone and that they (politicians) agree to end the misery and suffering of their brothers and sisters," said a churchgoer.
Ouattara, a former IMF official who hails from the West African country's Muslim north, has a father from Burkina Faso, and received French military backing to defeat rival Laurent Gbagbo -- make him a poster-child for the main issues of ethnicity, religion and anti-colonial sentiment that have roiled the nation for more than a decade.
The main question now is whether the 46 percent of Ivorians who voted for Gbagbo in the November election, including the armed militias who still roam the streets of the main city Abidjan, will accept his defeat and Ouattara as their leader
"We have been pressured, and pushed. We hid to stay alive. We hope that this is peace, and that this peace has arrived, we bless the name of the Lord. We really want peace. Christians and Muslims, we have all worked together during these times. We have organized mass services here, in mosques just in order to seek peace, and we believe that this peace will come," said Deblaise Honorat Kouao, President of the Parish Council.
Parts of Ivory Coast have long been prey to deep ethnic rivalries that fueled feuding between local tribes and immigrant farmers from neighboring countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso, who settled in northern Ivory Coast and now form the backbone of the cocoa workforce.
The religious and tribal faultiness fueled the 2002-03 civil war and mirror the divide that played out between Ouattara and Gbagbo, whose traditional power base is in the Christian south that includes Abidjan.
Before his ousting, Gbagbo rallied his supporters with fiery anti-foreigner and anti-French rhetoric, and accused Ouattara of being a Burkinabe and a patsy of the West and former colonial ruler France -- accusations he may struggle to shake. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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