catholics-from-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo

"The formation of men, in addition to the theological and moral part, includes a so-called "civil" part (for example on human and civic rights), a practical part on how, for example, to impart Christian teachings to those who ask to join the Catholic Church. Finally, a part dedicated to human development, focused on cultivation and breeding. It is no coincidence that the symbol of the school is an open Bible with a machete next to it, a work tool for harvesting the fruits of the earth. In short, we refer to the Ora et Labora rule."

"The people have assimilated the principles of democracy and taken part in a peaceful and orderly election on 31 July. It is the political leaders who fail to come to any agreement and so increase tension. The people of Congo hope that from these elections will emerge a leadership able to lead the country to peace and development."

"In our region there are so many armed groups that it is difficult to understand who commits the action. Here in North Kivu we live in total chaos. The situation in my diocese of Goma, like that of Butembo-Beni, is incredible. We are completely abandoned by everyone; we live only thanks to Providence. I ask the faithful of the universal Church to pray for our region so that they can rediscover peace."

"Let us not leave the polling stations before the results are posted at the polling station and all relevant documents are officially signed. Let us give a mandate to new leaders who have shown a sense of the common good, love for their country and generosity in their social projects."

"The people have the right to democratically withdraw their trust in the authorities when the latter fail to fulfil their sovereign duties."

"We did not understand that the blood of so many victims which impregnates the Congolese soil is a seed that will one day bear fruit for a better Congo. We must continue the struggle for the liberation of our country, until the final victory."

"The Lord has always blessed and sustained our Church and he will never abandon us. He will not abandon us if we turn to him at every moment, and if we are determined not to look back or hesitate in front of responsibilities we must shoulder as Church and society."

"The challenges we face arise from the difficulties in society today. Unemployment, criminality and peace which still needs to be consolidated are some of the challenges facing the country. In my opinion at the basis of all lies a problem which is both spiritual and cultural. We live in a world which is interdependent. Our young people are exposed to the same cultural influence as their peers in other countries."

"We have discovered that oftentimes our mission has the same demands and difficulties in different areas of the globe."

"We have emerged from a conflict that has left deep wounds – material ones, but above all, spiritual ones. Thanks be to God, the violence has ended and our diocese are experiencing a time of peace, however, the conflict has left deep wounds on the people and the land. We are having to respond to the spiritual and material wounds from the violence. We still have a part of the population that has not yet returned to their homes, but as I mentioned earlier, the worst wounds are the spiritual ones. People have lost family members and many women have suffered sexual violence. In this sense, it is very difficult to calculate exactly how many people are suffering, as many are afraid to admit that they have been victims of violence. Some of these people have suffered traumas and do not have the strength to ask for help. The Church has not remained indifferent to the cry of the people."

"Thank God for the wonderful gift of our country. Let us thank him for guiding us with kindness and wisdom through the various events in our national history. He helped to preserve the unity of the nation against attempts to balkanization. We need to move beyond all darkness of personal and social evil, which we have become too accustomed to ...It is a constant battle against all manner of injustice and oppression, especially corruption."

"The political context further increases the difficulties of the Congolese population: the occupation of Congo by neighboring countries, mainly Rwanda and Uganda, does not help the country to organize itself politically. "The international community continues to turn a blind eye to the situation in Congo, we risk witnessing an implosion of all of Central Africa. The Congolese fear being abandoned by everyone and want to defend themselves, thus developing an aversion against foreigners."

"It is true that Kinshasa is my diocese of incardination, but I had to readjust after my curial past in Rome, for 18 good years. It was still not easy, but overall I got quickly readjusted. My move to the diocese of Kisantu is a surprise for me and it fills me with joy. I always try to consider the will of God and not my own. I am grateful to the Lord for his presence in my life. I am also grateful to the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for his interest in the particular church of Kisantu and his confidence in me. I am confident that the new mission, albeit with many challenges, will go well with the help of the Lord and the commitment of the faithful of Kisantu."

"A fatalistic and partial vision of the Gospel leads some to see in everything that happens a will of God, even a punishment; others to think that God will do everything for us. This is not the case. The Catholic Church feels within her and shares the cry of the Congolese people, and wants with all her might to stop the bloodshed of so many innocent people."

"People want to know the truth, not to seek revenge or cultivate hatred, but to better honor their dead. We encourage all human rights activities that give an objective look at the events that have occurred in this part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, from the past to the present day. Remembering our dead, asking for justice and reparation is the best way to promote sincere reconciliation so that these murders, both mass and individual, never take place again."

"Who stands to gain from the death of innocent civilians? There are some who try to incite tribes against one another and this is something unknown in the area. We must remember that we are all brothers and sisters, to avoid the malediction of Cain."

"The Church with which you are committed, and which you want to serve, is like an inn of Christ; a place of hospitality, healing and communion. Be careful not to turn it into an inn for bandits or thieves to rob, extort, exploit, mistreat and harm the people of God, your brothers and sisters, to whom, on the contrary, you should be close."

"I believe that we all long for peace and that there is not a single Catholic bishop in Rwanda, Burundi or the Democratic Republic Republic of the Congo who could be happy about what is happening in the Democratic Republic of the Congo."

"The family is at the heart of the worries of the Church in Zaire, because the family constitutes the vital core of human society. The quality of life in the society in general and in the Church in particular depends on the quality of familial life. Today, the family is the privileged target for negative ideologies and practices which denaturalise the meaning of human sexuality and conjugal love. Zaire faces, more and more, a crisis of the family under different imported forms."

"The Churches of Africa and Madagascar expect a pastoral contribution from sister Churches of the West that is necessary for eliminating the evil that threatens life in Africa and Madagascar whose roots are to be found in the West."

"Supported by the Church by Christ and his Mother we cannot accept the attitude of new Christian movements that tend to rub out the name of the Virgin Mary in our Christian tradition. How can we honour a king and despise his mother? May Mary be in Africa the one who exerts maternal royalty for the new departure of fraternal governments: since union makes strength."

""Lord do what you want with me," this is the song that gave me courage to go out of the bush and to go back to the town to identify the women who were displaced, the women who were traumatized."

"After the nationalization of the press and the audio-visual means of the religious confessions around the 1970's, the Catholic Church lost most of its means for social communication: the radio, the television, the films, the newspapers and the magazines. Today, we are trying to climb back, with difficulty, up the slope in a still uncertain social, economic and political environment. Despite the enormous challenges which we must face, the possibilities are still huge."

"Romero has shown us the path a Christian must follow, be what he believes, what he lives, what he professes."

"Perhaps our brother Léon will tell us, and will tell his people, his people of Argentina, of Salvador, in many places where he went: "Now I commit you to God.""

"The sad problem of Africa is that it abounds with many resources and yet is seen as the poorest continent with women and children seen as the most vulnerable in society."

"Be a gift of God for our people tempted to despair because of the social situation in our country. Women religious are called to spread hope."

"In seeking peaceful solutions, all notable diplomatic and political approaches aim at reestablishing truth, justice and peace. Christ is our peace, He made peace, He proclaimed peace, so that all Jews and pagans could be made one people. Not by leaving each other with their privileges and their rights, but in abolishing exclusion, in pulling down the wall of cultural and social separation, in destroying the hatred which He crucified upon the cross with his body."

"We do not know whether the relative calm granted us by guerrillas is merely a tactical retreat, to reorganize their files and then attack again. Only time can tell, and that is why we need international protection."

"It is unthinkable that these conflicts are provoked only by local interests. Obscure powers aiming for the region's resources exploit ethnic frustrations and their corollary, poverty, to foment conflicts. They kindle ethnic hatred setting fire to powder kegs while standing in the shadows. Manipulation is a dreadful weapon."

"With the strength of our faith, I strongly condemn this persistent insecurity and call on the perpetrators of these acts to give peace a chance."

"In most African cultures, evil is conceived of as the consequence of a transgression of what is prescribed, whether divine precepts - which unconditionally call for obedience and submission - or a social law dictated by the authorities that govern as well as ritualistic interdicts or prescriptions. Any action that diminishes or destroys life and any act or attitude and behavior that breaks the unity, the order or the harmony of things are also considered as evils."

"We have the impression, at least from the outside, that the West is losing its roots, and the roots of the West are precisely the values that the West brought us during colonisation, and we believed in these values; but today we see that these values no longer exist for the West, and this confuses us a little. We ask ourselves: where is the West going with this kind of approach? And when I say that the West is in danger of disappearing, it is because a people is also its culture, but we have the impression that the West is no longer willing to embrace its culture: everything is relativised, everything is questioned, and this, in any case, disturbs us."

"It has always been important for the Capuchins to encourage lay people to take an active part in the Church and in effect we have many local lay Catholics in the Franciscan Tertiary Order. This is very encouraging for us because the collaboration of well-prepared lay people is necessary for the apostolate."

"Francis will go down in history as the Pope of reform. He has done a great deal to reform the Church, and this must continue, and I believe it will continue, for the simple reason that before leaving office he concluded the cycle of the Synod on synodality. And what has been produced by this Synod has become a heritage for the whole Church. Interviewer: You mentioned synodality. In mid-March, Francis approved the start of a synodal journey that should lead to an ecclesial assembly in 2028. Can we say that this synodal journey remains unfinished? Cardinal Ambongo: I wouldn't say unfinished. The Pope always repeated: "I pray to the Lord that he will grant me enough time so that the reforms that have begun can reach the point of no return." I believe that the reform initiatives undertaken by Francis have now reached that point. That is why I am convinced that the reforms will continue."

"The Pope himself considered his trip to Congo one of his most important apostolic visits."

"(About the Synod on Synodality) So, coming to this Synod, the intention was not to address this or that problem. The main intention, the primary objective of the Synod, is about how we can become a new Church together, acquire a new way of being the Church; in our way of being, in our operating structures, in our collaboration structures."

"I can only say that I salute and welcome the fight against racism and all forms of discrimination. The realisation of a plural and multicultural world must be a priority in this 21st century."

"Humanly, left to ourselves, we are incapable of doing a divine work, our power comes from God and it is in prayer and faith that it finds its source."

"Protect our sacred places and objects, to denounce any desecrator, any suspect and any accomplice."

"The future structure of Congo must be federal for us."

"I never liked luxury, but I grew up in an environment of businessmen, in an environment where I had to sell goods, so I had to emit the quality of those goods."

"It was a measure that brought salvation, if General Mobutu had not done so, I and some members of my party would no longer be alive."

"There's no need for an attack i just need to get hold of Stanleyville again. You'll see I'll be back in Control of Satnleyville in a few days."

"I must return to Katanga because it is my responsibility to help the Katangese peoples."

"I've been living outside of the Congo for a year now. And I have often made it known that I wanted to return to Congo when the time was right. I remain convinced that there is general reconciliation possible between all Congolese and that this is the only absolute condition to get this country out of the misery and anarchy."

"I doubt that there are no Communists in the US State Department, I wonder, I don't understand that the Americans go along with the Russians and then say they voted reluctantly, so to speak."

"Since we have no confidence in the government that has just been formed in Leopoldville and is led by Mister Lumumba, we have decided to declare Katanga Independent."

"It takes two to corrupt – the corrupted and the corrupter."

"I am the latest victim of the cold war, no longer needed by the US. The lesson is that my support for American policy counts for nothing."