Central African Republic–Holy See relations refers to the current and historic relationship between the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

and the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

. Diplomatic relations between the two states were established in 1967, but only in recent years they have been increasing their cooperation, with high level visits being made by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

and President

Faustin-Archange Touadéra Faustin-Archange Touadéra (; born 21 April 1957) is a Central African politician and academic who has been President of the Central African Republic since March 2016. He previously was Prime Minister of the Central African Republic from Janua ...

to each other's countries. The Holy See maintains an apostolic nunciature in

Bangui Bangui () (or Bangî in Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi ...

, while the Central African Republic has no diplomatic representation to

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

. The most recent

apostolic nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international ...

of the Holy See in CAR was Archbishop

Franco Coppola Franco Coppola (born 31 March 1957) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium and Luxembourg since 2021. He has served in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 1993. Biography Coppola was born i ...

(2014–2016), but he was reassigned in the summer of 2016 and currently the position is vacant. Another notable former apostolic nuncio to CAR is

Joseph Chennoth Joseph Chennoth (13 October 1943 – 8 September 2020) was a Syro Malabar Catholic prelate who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He was an archbishop and an apostolic nuncio since 1999. He was ordained a priest on 4 May 1969 ...

(1999–2005).

History

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were first established in May 1967.

Official visits

made a visit to the Central African Republic in November 2015 and encouraged the country's process of national reconciliation, amidst the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

that has been going on there. He was greeted by crowds and a celebration took place in Bangui, as the Pope urged both Christian and Muslim militants to lay down their arms. Pope Francis met with interim President

Catherine Samba-Panza Catherine Samba-Panza (born 26 June 1954) is a Central African lawyer and politician who served as interim President of the Central African Republic from 2014 to 2016. She was the first woman to hold the post of head of state in that country, as ...

during his visit. After being elected

President of the Central African Republic President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

visited

as his first international trip, in April 2016. He thanked the Pope for visiting their country at a difficult period in its history and stated that with the peaceful 2015–16 general elections and the ongoing process of demobilizing militias, the country is on the path to recovery.VATICAN: President of Central African Republic meets Pope Francis; Thanks Him for Visit
Catholic Information Service for Africa. Published 19 April 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2017.

Bilateral agreements

A Framework Agreement was signed on 6 September 2016 between CAR and the Holy See at the presidential palace in Bangui, with Charles-Armel Doubane, Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Integration signing on the behalf of the former, and Archbishop Franco Coppola signing on behalf of the latter. The signing was done in the presence of President Faustin-Archange Touadéra. The agreement consists of 21 articles and establishes relations between the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the state, as well as areas of mutual interest for cooperation between them.Agreement between the Holy See and the Central African Republic
Official Vatican Network. Published 7 September 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Central African Republic-Holy See relations 1967 establishments 1967 in Christianity

History

Official visits

Bilateral agreements

See also

References