Blessing of new psychiatric centre in Bangui

Bangui, Central African Republic – 16 February 2018. During the visit of Superior General Bro. René Stockman to the brothers in the Central African Republic, Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, archbishop of Bangui, blessed the new psychiatric centre.

The new centre came about through a collaboration between Fracarita International and the following organizations: Kindermissionswerk, Missio Aachen, the Archdiocese of Cologne, and the Episcopal Conference of Italy. The new centre, which adopted Father Damien as its patron saint, has the capacity to admit 30 young people and adults with mental health problems, with a special concern for people with post-traumatic stress disorders.

The centre will be officially inaugurated at a later date, when the children’s unit will also be finished. Currently, the Brothers of Charity are essentially pioneers for well-organized psychiatric care. Outpatient care services were started two years ago, and now we are looking forward to hospitalizing the first patients.