Chaos in Central African Republic

A Catholic religious order has urged international action to stem “uncontrolled lawlessness” in the Central African Republic after one of its Italian missionaries was threatened with death by rebel soldiers. “Let us pray that peace may return in this country torn apart by different factions,” the order of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Betharram said in a statement released on Sept. 30 on its Web site. The statement said rebel soldiers had bound and gagged the Rev. Beniamino Gusmeroli and an African brother, Martial Maru, during a raid on the Our Lady of Fatima mission in Bouar on Sept. 28. The rebels threatened to kill the mission doorkeeper and “turned everything upside down,” taking money, computers and anything of value. “This action is a sign of how the situation is deteriorating,” the order added. “No glimmer of change is in sight unless the international community intervenes quickly and firmly.”