Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - “Are they trying to send a warning sign to the Church?” is the question presented to Agenzia Fides in an interview with a missionary from South Kivu, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who for security reasons as wished to remain anonymous, following attacks carried out on October 5 and 6 on the Marist Brothers' convent in Nyangezi, 25 kilometers south of Bukavu, and the boarding school Weza Institute, run by the religious order.
“It is the same armed group that attacked the church in Ciherano, on the night between October 2 and 3 (see Fides 5/10/2009), as the two towns are relatively close,” Fides' source affirmed. “I do not think this is mere vandalism, but that these acts of violence have political and perhaps even ideological motives. I am wondering if these acts are not meant to be an effort to send a warning sign to the Catholic Church, which is an uncomfortable witness to what is taking place in this part of the Congo.”
In South Kivu there is a “mixed” brigade of the Congolese Army, formed by members of the regular armed forces and armed groups who accepted peace accords. There are also the “Blue Helmets” of the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC). South, and even more so North Kivu, have been the aim of the joint military action of the Congolese Army and the Rwandan forces who are out to get the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a group formed initially by former members of the Rwandan army and interhamwe militants (responsible for the genocide of 1994) who took refuge in East Congo in the 90s.
“From what we have learned, the FDLR were not the ones who attacked the Church,” Fides' source explained. “In spite of the presence of a number of soldiers, how can this area be so open so as to allow these armed groups to pass through the many control points? Are those who should be ensuring safety perhaps part of the problem of the lack of safety in Kivu? These are just a few of the questions that come to mind after witnessing these events,” our source concluded.
The participants in the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops have launched a pressing appeal for the reestablishment of safety in South Kivu. In a letter written to Archbishop Francois-Xavier Maroy Rusengo of Bukavu, who had to leave the Synod on October 7 to comfort the faithful of his Archdiocese, the Synod Fathers say that they “invite the legitimate civil authorities to do everything possible to bring back order in justice to establish and guarantee peace, necessary for a normal life of the dear population.”
Bishop Nicolas Djoma Lola of Tshumbe, President of the Bishops' Conference of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who is participating in the Synod, published a declaration in which he reminds “political-administrative authorities that they give police and soldiers the primary duty of protecting the population and their property.”
In his address, the President of the Bishops' Conference of the DRC condemned “the wars and violence imposed on the Democratic Republic of Congo. We need to flay the lies and subterfuges used by the predators and backers of these wars and violence. The tribalism constantly mentioned as the reason for these wars in Dem. Rep. Congo are just a cover. The ethnic differences are used as an excuse to pillage the natural resources.” “We deplore the fact that the international community is not doing enough to put an end to these wars and violence, by finding out the true causes for all of this: the pillage of natural resources. It has limited itself to the healing of the effects of the wars rather than to attack the causes,” the Bishop said. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 9/10/2009)
