AFRICA/CONGO - “I cannot be silent before the tragedy of my people ” says Catholic Bishop of Nkayi

Wednesday, 24 March 2004

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Brazzaville (Fides Service)- “The people are hungry, they are suffering and poverty affects every sector of society and the Church cannot remain silent in the face of this tragedy” Bishop Daniel Mizonzo, Bishop of Nkayi and President of the Bishops’ Conference Commission for Formation of Clergy and Seminaries in Congo. Nkayi diocese is 300 km south of Brazzaville and it was seriously affected by civil wars in 1997 and particularly in 1998-99. Bishop Mizonzo, who has just returned from a visit to Europe where he went to Italy, Germany, France and Luxembourg, has appealed to other local Churches to help his country.
“As President the Bishops’ Conference Commission for Formation of Clergy, I went to Europe to visit our priests, religious and seminarians” Bishop Mizonzo said. “I took the opportunity to visit the partners of my diocese, seriously affected during the civil wars in this country to ask for help”.
This was Bishop Mizonzo’s first visit to Rome since he was ordained by Pope John Paul II on January 6, 2002. “In these two years I never left the diocese and I came to realise that the problems are mainly to do with the economy. The people are hungry, they are suffering and poverty affects every sector of society. The Church cannot remain silent in the face of this tragedy. This is why I had meetings with the traditional partners of our diocese Aid to the Church in Need, Missio, Misereor and some Vatican departments. I also met businessmen in northern Italy specialised in farming, because my diocese is Congo’s granary. We have started several development projects with which we hope to boost farm produce. The challenge is underdevelopment and the answer is to boost agriculture at all levels: parish, seminary and other relevant structures in the diocese. ”.
For the immediate future Bishop Mizonzo intends to promote formation of priests, catechists and lay person “in order to re-think together the reconstruction of the diocese ”. The next step will be to “encourage reflection on the economic life of the diocese. With the help of development experts we will examine our accounts and identify useful projects ” said Bishop Mizonzo (M.T.S.) (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 34/3/2004, righe 31 parole 398)