Our Lady of Yamena: Our Lady in the Sahel

Yamena

In Yamena, the capital of Chad, the Catholic community is venerating Our Lady of Yamena as a protector of the city and the country. Marian devotion in Chad, although a minority in a Muslim majority country, has a remarkable vitality among the Christian communities of the south and the capital.

Chad: the country of both cultures

Chad is a culturally divided country between the northern Arab-Muslim and the southern African-Christian. This division, inherited from French colonization, has marked the country's history: Chad has experienced civil wars, coups and inter-ethnic tensions since its independence in 1960.

The Catholic Church in Chad is concentrated in the south, among the sara, mundang, musgum and other ethnic groups of the south. The spiritist missionaries and the Fathers of the Divine Word (SVD) were the main evangelizers of the region, arrived at the end of the 19th century.

La catedral de Yamena

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace of Yamena, the seat of the Archdiocese of Yamena, is the most important Catholic temple in Chad. Built during the French colonial period, the cathedral is a simple building that has survived the country's civil wars and political crises.

The Archdiocese of Yamena covers the capital and its surroundings, a region where Muslims, Christians and animists coexist. The cathedral functions as a space for interreligious meeting: the Christians of Yamena, from all over South Chad, meet here for Sunday celebrations.

The Virgin Mary in the Sara culture

The Sara, the largest ethnic group in Chad (about 30 per cent of the population), are mostly Christians (Catholics and Protestants). The Virgin Mary has been integrated into the Sara culture as the "nana" (mother) of the Christian community. Marian celebrations in southern Chad include sara-language songs, traditional dances and millet and sorghum offerings.

The Church in a Muslim country

In a country where more than 50 per cent of the population is Muslim, the Catholic Church in Chad is a minority who has learned to live with Islam. Chadian Catholics participate in interreligious dialogue and work with Muslim authorities on education, health and social development projects. Marian devotion is a bridge between the two religions: Mary (Maryam) is also venerated in Islam.