Flanked by Vatican bodyguards in flak jackets and machine-gun-toting UN peacekeepers, Pope Francis plunged Sunday into conflict-wracked Central African Republic and urged the country’s Christian and Muslim factions to lay down their weapons and instead arm themselves with peace and forgiveness.

France is investigating allegations of child abuse in Central African Republic by soldiers that it sent there to stem an outbreak of sectarian killing, officials said.

The Government is to provide €3.2m to people affected by the "forgotten emergencies" .