AFRICA/DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - AFTER SO MANY CHRISTMASSES OF WAR AT LAST CONGO PREPARES FOR A CHRISTMAS AT PEACE: ON 1 JANUARY A NEW ‘MOTHER OF GOD’ PARISH WILL OPEN IN MUHUNGU ENTRUSTED TO XAVERIAN MISSIONARIES

Friday, 19 December 2003

Bukavu (Fides Service ) - Father Luigi Lo Stocco, Xaverian missionary head of Radio Maria Queen of Peace in Bukavu, Democratic Congo, sent Fides a report on preparations for Christmas.
“After many Christmasses with the country at war, we are preparing for a Christmas of peace this year! In fact the peace process in Democratic Congo is irreversible. With great difficulty it was built up by the transition government which represents all the political-military parties. Every small sign of peace gives us courage and pushes us forward. Bukavu used to war and mourning its dead and they are many, is aware now that peace is not far away.
In the past weeks an infernal plot to start a third war was unmasked. We all held our breath and tension rocketed. Archbishop Charles Kambale Mbogha of Bukavu issued a powerful message: “This is our home, we live on land left to us by our ancestors, God’s gift to the Congolese people. We must keep watch, we need not fear because the One in whom we place our trust has conquered the world.”
In this early part of the month of December Bukavu is calm. Christmas lights are still a long way off. No one thinks of gifts. The daily preoccupation is how to find something to eat in the evening. City life runs as usual, thousands of people are on the streets on errands, selling or begging.
But in the churches Bukavu you can see Christmas is near. Advent is taken very seriously in every parish with many initiatives especially catechesis. Hundreds of Basic Church Communities are at work to prepare to « celebrate the Birth of Jesus » all over the archdiocese.
In the hillside town of Muhungu, which has a population of about 40,000, a new “Mother of God” church is ready. On January 1st, the Feast of Mary Mother of God, “Mater Dei” will be consecrated as a new parish church by Archbishop Mbogha. The parish’s eleven Basic Church Communities are preparing joyfully for the event: for years the local people have wanted their own parish so they are not surprised. The parish will be entrusted to the Xaverian Missionaries. In fact the funds for the church and parish centre came for the Xaverian community in Parma Italy.
I asked Donato, the chairman of the parish council, about the event: “What will this new parish mean at Christmas for the Catholics of Mater Dei?”. “This year Advent is a time of waiting for two reasons: Christmas on 25 December and the new church on January 1. For the theme for Advent meditation this year we chose “I stand at the door and knock…let us build unity together”. The Jesus we are awaiting is the one who will be our guide and the heart of our parish. It is wonderful to wait for his coming together with the new church.”
Christmas is the feast of life and it is deeply felt by African Christians. With the birth of Jesus new life bursts into the world. Nativity scenes attract young and old. On December 1 a student, aged about 18 or 19, came to ask: “Father when will we start building the Nativity Scene? - and he added - Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the Nativity Scene». (L.M.) (Fides 19/12/2003 lines 48 words 661)


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