Men, women and children in Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo, wash minerals which are used for the green energy transition. Photo: Jacques Nzumbu SJ.
by Fr Jacques Nzumbu SJ*
The Pope’s visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is viewed with excitement by the Congolese people. More than 1.5 million people are expected to attend the mass on February 1.
Beyond the popular jubilation, however, there are high expectations for peace and reconciliation in the DRC. Over the last decades, the country has endured wars, repeated conflicts, invasion by its neighbours, the plundering of its natural resources, the use of its children in armed militias and in cruel artisanal mining, human rights violations, the abuse, and rape of women as weapons of war, and the destruction of the environment. Congo has more than six million internally displaced persons and refugees.
The situation in the Congo offers Pope Francis an opportunity to synthesise the teachings contained in his main encyclicals, texts, and exhortations.
The light of faith. The DRC is the first Catholic country in Africa with the largest number of faithful. More than 50% of its population of 120 million is Catholic. The Catholic church, through its pastoral care and works of charity, education, health, development, reconciliation, and social justice, bears witness to a living faith that produces its fruits. As part of its prophetic vocation, the Catholic church engages in the socio-political life of the country and defends human dignity.
The joy of the Gospel. The Congolese Catholic church has a committed liturgy, with its own rite of the Mass, which was recognised and accepted by Rome, after Vatican II. A message on the new evangelisation and how to live the faith in a changing world is important to encourage the clergy and the faithful, in a context of growing poverty in parishes, which requires more and more a witness of life. The rise of sects and Islamic terrorist groups in Eastern Congo could be given a message of peace and dialogue between religions.
Amoris Laetitia, the joy of love, about marriage and family. In 2050, the DRC will be the eighth most populous country in the world, with a population of over 250 million. A message about the role of the family, African values, and the dignity of the person and respect for human rights, especially for children and women, will be essential for the entire Congolese society.
Laudato Si, on integral ecology, on the safeguarding of nature. The DRC occupies more than 60% of the forests of the Congo basin. The forests of the Congo Basin are the second green lungs of the world after the Amazon. The DRC has the world’s largest carbon storage sink, ahead of Amazonia. At the same time, these forests are threatened by the over-exploitation of natural resources in mining, forestry, gas, and oil by multinationals, and under the worst conditions of injustice and marginalisation of local communities. At the same time as the environment is being destroyed, natural resources such as blood minerals and conflict minerals, and forest resources, are being used to finance the militias and armed groups that have been menacing eastern DRC for the past 30 years. Integral ecology requires a message that puts human being at the centre of environmental, economic, and ecological concerns. The Congolese people and local communities can be the guardians of nature, but under what conditions? How can we reconcile this wealth of nature with the poverty of many Congolese?
Fratelli tutti. At present, the DRC is experiencing a tragic human situation, with more than six million refugees and internally displaced persons; more than 10 million have died because of wars imposed by obscure powers, and the plunder of natural resources. Peace has disappeared in Congo. Hatred is growing in the Great Lakes region between peoples and ethnic groups. A message of international solidarity with the wounded Congolese people based on the Pope’s message would be an enormous contribution to peace. By welcoming and speaking with the victims of the war in the DRC, the victims of rape, in the presence of journalists from all over the world, the Pope can contribute to peace in the Congo. He can make a plea for peace for the DRC. The DRC is therefore for the Pope a kind of moral imperative for the whole world. We must talk about the Congo and its tragedy, which has been largely ignored and hidden from the world.
* Fr Jacques Nzumbu SJ is a Congolese Jesuit and a specialist in conflict minerals, responsible mineral supply chain due diligence, corporate social responsibility of mining companies, artisanal mining and strategic minerals and energy transition. He was the speaker for Canadian Jesuit International’s multi-city fall campaign in 2022, Green Justice: Human Rights and Energy Transition. He is currently a PhD student at the Université du Québec à Montréal in Canada. He holds several master’s degrees: in governance and public policy of natural resources; in international affairs: economics, politics and business law; and in Ignatian leadership.
