The Pope’s visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo arouses great expectations

By Véronique Gaymard, special envoy to Kinshasa

Expectations are high in this country of 110 million inhabitants, more than 40% of whom are Catholic – which makes it the largest Catholic population in Africa – while evangelical or Pentecostal churches multiply.

It is also a country rich in biodiversity and minerals, especially in the east, coveted by many armed groups, with tensions that have risen again in recent days, especially in the last year, with new offensives by the M23, an armed group accused of be supported by neighboring Rwanda.

“Along with natural resources such as forests, there is the question of clean energy, which requires a certain number of minerals that the DRC possesses,” explains Henri Muhiya, director of the Cenco’s Episcopal Commission for Natural Resources. “We have cobalt, copper , which is in the southeast, in Katanga, but also lithium, which has not yet been exploited. If we go further north, where there is now a war, we have coltan, cassiterite, but also rare earths, especially where M23 is now. So people are asking: are we going to ask the DRC to hand over its resources to us while the Congolese are dying from these conflicts? This is the situation the Pope finds himself in. We hope his message can appeal to leaders world,” says Muhiya.

During his trip scheduled for July, the Pope was scheduled to visit Goma, in North Kivu, where the M23 movement is intensifying its offensives. For security reasons, this stage has been cancelled; a great disappointment for the populations of the East that suffer the violence, but Francisco will receive a delegation of some sixty victims and displaced persons, and it is expected that he will launch an appeal to stop the war. This visit also occurs in an election year, the Pope could advocate a good organization of the elections scheduled for December.

The Catholic Church is deeply involved in social and political rights, a long tradition that is still anchored in CENCO, the National Episcopal Conference of the Congo.

A message of peace and reconciliation

C’est donc surtout un message de paix et de réconciliation qu’attendent les Congolais, comme le souligne Monseigneur Marcel Utembi, président de la Conférence épiscopale du Congo. « Le pape est toujours sensible à ce qu’il se passe dans la sous-region, mais particulièrement en DRC. In lançant des messages of compassion, of solidarity, au besoin même de dénociación de all ces ces crimes dans la région. Nous pensons que le pape, en pèlerin de la paix, certainly aura a message d’interpellation, de dénocer le mal, les violences et appealer les différentes parties prenantes à s’entendre, à être plutôt artisans de paix. » A message of peace and reconciliation

It is therefore, above all, a message of peace and reconciliation that the Congolese await, as underlined by Monsignor Marcel Utembi, president of the Episcopal Conference of Congo. “The Pope is always sensitive to what is happening in the sub-region, but particularly in the DRC. Always sensitive to what is happening in the sub-region, but especially in the DRC, he sends messages of compassion, solidarity and even denounces all these crimes in the We believe that the Pope, as a pilgrim of peace, will undoubtedly have a message of questioning, denouncing evil, violence and calling on the different actors to get along, to be peacemakers.

We hope your visit will change something.

The economic situation is precarious for the majority of the inhabitants of Kinshasa, especially the young, with whom the Pope will meet on Thursday morning at the Martyrs’ stadium, they hope that the Pope’s message will resonate with their leaders, like André , who has a street stall.

“Life is difficult, because it wasn’t like that before. Now we struggle to survive. I stopped going to university, I plan to start again next year. I am organizing myself to have money, because we need money to pay university fees, the transportation, food, we have to make calculations. As the Pope comes to help us, to encourage us, to talk to young people, we hope that his visit will change something. What we want is employment,” he told RFI.

Miriam, a teacher, sees it as a visit to support the Congolese. “The Pope’s message? A great message of reconciliation, a message of peace, of comfort, a message of everything, because in our country nothing is going well. So the Pope comes to support us ”, she estimates.

The big moment will be the mass at the Ndolo airport, completely renovated, where more than a million people are expected to attend.