Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Fides Service)- The archdiocese of Kinshasa celebrated on Sunday 4 December the 75th birthday of its Archbishop Cardinal Frédéric Etsou. The date also marked 50 years of priesthood for the cardinal.
At Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Cardinal presided Mass to which all Congolese of every social standing had been invited. Hundreds of visibly moved people took part.
On 2 December in the cathedral parish a play on his life was performed in honour of the Cardinal.
On November 7 Catholic school pupils in Kinshasa celebrated the Cardinal’s birthday with a Mass presided by the Archbishop at the shrine of Our Lady of Peace. On that occasion Cardinal Etsou, representative of Catholic schools, confirmed his love for children and young people. The students responded with affection, greeting the Archbishop and congratulating Koko, (grandfather in Lingala) on his good health.
Cardinal Etsou was born on 3 December in 1930 at Mazologa, diocese of Lisala. He was ordained a priest on 13 July 1958, and made titular archbishop of Menefessi on 8 July 1976. In 1977 he was appointed archbishop of Mbanda-Bikoro and in 1990 archbishop of Kinshasa. Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal on 28 June 1991. (Agenzia Fides 7/12/2005 righe 23 parole 243)
