DR CONGO From Congo, Pope Francis to the world: ‘Hands off Africa’

Before the authorities in Kinshasa – the first stop on the trip that will also take him to South Sudan – the Pontiff issued a harsh warning against “economic colonialism”. From the country of “bloody diamonds” due to conflicts, he advocated “a man-to-man diplomacy, where the control of resources is not at the center, but the growth opportunities of the people.” “Violence and hatred are anti-human and anti-Christian sentiments: they no longer have a place in anyone’s heart or on anyone’s lips.”

Kinshasa () – “Hands off the Democratic Republic of Congo, hands off Africa. It is not a mine to exploit or a land to plunder. Let Africa be the protagonist of its own destiny.” From Kinshasa, where he arrived this afternoon for the first leg of his apostolic journey to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, Pope Francis immediately issued a harsh warning to the great powers of the world – including the Asian ones – who continue to look at this continent only as a reserve of raw materials to be exploited for their own interests.

He did so from the first speech, delivered at the Palace of the Nation, before President Félix Tshisekedi, the other authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps. For this he recalled the image of diamonds, wealth and curse of this land bloodied by a forgotten war, which left more than 6 million victims in the last thirty years. “If the geography of this green lung is so rich and varied”, Francis recalled, “history was not so generous: tormented by war, the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to suffer conflicts and forced migrations within its borders, and suffer terrible forms of exploitation, unworthy of man and of creation. This immense country full of life, this diaphragm of Africa, hit by violence like a punch in the stomach, has long seemed breathless.”

He explained that the most precious diamond in this country is its more than 100 million inhabitants. He asked all Congolese to stand up, to do their part: “Violence and hatred have no place in anyone’s heart or on the lips, because they are anti-human and anti-Christian sentiments that paralyze development and make us go back to a past Dark”. But the Pontiff could not remain silent about the responsibilities of those who continue to loot this country, thus fueling its conflicts. “After the politician,” he denounces, “an equally enslaving ‘economic colonialism’ was unleashed. The poison of greed bloodied his diamonds. It is a drama before which the most economically advanced world tends to close its eyes, ears and mouth” .

He invited everyone to “remember the catastrophes that have occurred over the centuries to the detriment of local populations.” He asked that “Africa, the smile and hope of the world, count more: that it be talked about more, that it have more weight and representation among nations”. by the towns, where the control of the areas and the resources, the objectives of expansion and the increase of benefits, but rather the growth opportunities of the people are not in the center”. He also demanded from the international community, almost resigned to the violence that devours the Democratic Republic of the Congo: “We cannot get used to the blood that has flowed in this country for decades, reaping millions of deaths without many knowing it,” he warned. Let’s be aware of what’s going on here.”

Francisco stressed that even the chemical composition of diamond, capable of admirably combining the same carbon atoms, creates the miracle of a luminous body instead of the blackness of graphite. From it he drew a warning against the dangers of tribalism, another evil that contributed to the bloodshed in this land. “Stubbornly siding with one’s own ethnic group or particular interests, fueling spirals of hatred and violence, is detrimental to everyone,” he explained. “The problem is not the nature of the people or of the ethnic and social groups, but the way in which they decide to be together: the will or not to go to meet, reconcile and start again makes the difference between the darkness of the conflict and a bright future of peace and prosperity.

From Kinshasa, the Pope asked religions to contribute to this meeting with their own patrimony of wisdom, renouncing “all aggression, proselytism and coercion, means unworthy of human freedom.” But the crystal clarity of the diamond was also a warning to those in authority. He called on Congolese politicians to flee authoritarianism and easy profits, further expanding peace processes “to women, youth and marginalized groups.” “Do not allow yourself to be manipulated or bought by those who want to keep the country in violence, to exploit it and do shameful business: this only brings disrepute and shame, along with death and misery. Instead, it is good to get closer to the people, to realize how he lives”.

He mentioned the suffering of children and women in this long war: “Many do not go to school: instead of receiving a decent education, they are exploited. Too many die subjected to slave labor in the mines,” he denounced. spare no efforts to denounce the plague of child labor and put an end to it. How many girls are marginalized and their dignity violated”, he added in a country where rape has been systematically used as a weapon of war: “Boys, girls, young people are hope: let’s not let it be eliminated, let’s cultivate it with passion”. She cited the challenge of safeguarding creation in one of the largest green lungs in the world, which must be preserved; but “even in this field,” she explained, “a broad and fruitful collaboration is important that allows for effective intervention, without imposing external models that are more useful to those who help than to those who are helped.”

It is hard, the diamond; knows how to resist The same force that “in the name of Christ, who is the God of hope, the God of all possibilities who always gives the strength to start over” calls all Congolese “to a courageous and inclusive social restart. The story The luminous but wounded country is asking for it”, Francis concluded, “young people and children in particular are begging for it. I am with you and I accompany with prayer and closeness all the efforts for a peaceful, harmonious and prosperous future of this great country”.