2016 Aurora Humanitarian Father Bernard Kinvi co-wrote Mission, a book about his experiences, together with his friend, French journalist Tigrane Yegavian. A Catholic priest in Bossemptele, Central African Republic, Father Bernard Kinvi provided medical assistance and refuge to both sides of an armed conflict, establishing his mission as a safe haven for all who were injured. We talked to Mr. Yegavian about their collaboration, common misconceptions about the crisis in CAR and what could be done to change the situation.

Can you tell us a little more about your relationship with Father Kinvi? What was the source of inspiration for this book?

Back in 2016, I was working as the French editor of the Aurora Prize website. When Father Kinvi became one of the 2016 Aurora Humanitarians, I prepared a profile of him, which he really liked. Later I was privileged to accompany him when he came to Armenia for the inaugural Aurora Prize Ceremony. Together with his friend Father Brice, we visited the Holy See of Etchmiadzin and the city center of Yerevan.

We met again in Berlin, in December 2017. I remember he spoke very little. I had to learn to decipher his silences, to read between the lines, to look for answers in his kind and gentle eyes.

Father Kinvi had an ardent desire to testify to what he had lived through. What mattered most to him was to explain that he had received a gift of providence: this faith that moves mountains and has led him to perform the outstanding acts of bravery which got him nominated for the Aurora Prize.

This book was born from Father Kinvi's wish to tell his story to the world, but there’s more to it. Father Kinvi was keen on the idea of comparing the spiritual dimension of his career as a man of the Church with that of a critical observer of the political situation and the war ravaging the Central African Republic. The plan of the book was already in my head, and it was with joy and full understanding of the gravity of this task that I agreed to accompany him on the journey.

Our friendship only grew stronger as we were writing this book.

This collaboration seems very interesting – you live in Paris and he lives thousands of miles away, in Central African Republic. What was it like working on a book together?

It wasn’t that hard to overcome the distance that separates us. Father Kinvi came to Paris for a week in June 2018, returning from Armenia, where he had participated in the 2018 Aurora Prize Ceremony. I recorded dozens of hours of interviews, which I later transcribed and edited. Father Kinvi, in turn, rewrote some passages.

The book deals with some very serious issues. How did you address them?

When speaking to general public, who is not familiar with the situation in the Central African Republic, you have to know how to be an educator. One should begin by explaining how this country was forgotten by the international community, and why, despite its immense natural wealth, the population lives in absolute poverty and lack of development and faces many deficiencies. The idea was to present both a Christian testimony and a geopolitical analysis through a critical angle. Contrary to what most Western journalists claim, the conflict in Central Africa is not of a confessional nature. This is not a war between Christians and Muslims.

In your opinion, how can the crises like the one that is currently unfolding in CAR be dealt with?

Father Kinvi has explained to me a lot about the nature of this conflict that I previously knew only through the filter of international media. What is interesting in his analysis is his profound lucidity. He takes a severe look at the regional and Western powers that are the misfortune of Central Africans. Those powers encourage divisions and underdevelopment to better plunder the country’s wealth. But, at the same time, he criticizes the lack of awareness of Central Africans who are somehow co-responsible for their own misfortune. It's not the whites who kill black people, he says. To put an end to this fratricidal war, in which the divisions are not those that we believe, Father Kinvi suggests a whole series of measures to be undertaken, notably in the field of education. For it is true that most warlords are illiterate people. Education for all would play a vital role here.

What kind of impact do you think your book can have?

This book is meant for a broader audience. It will be of particular interest to people who want to better know the Central African Republic, a country about which there is little knowledge in France, despite the fact that it used to be one of the French colonies. It will hopefully also touch the hearts of all those who wonder about the mysteries of faith or how one is called to make the impossible happen, driven by a force that transcends him. There is also a certain therapeutic side to this testimony of an incredibly courageous and humble man; a man at the service of others whose acts of love and compassion “make the soul grow”. This modern-day savior puts into practice Aurora's core message: Gratitude in Action.

Mission by Father Bernard Kinvi and Tigrane Yegavian is released in French in bookstores on May 23, 2019 (Éditions du Cerf).