AFRICA/DR CONGO - Assault on the Archbishop's residence: Cardinal Ambongo forgives perpetrators and instigators

Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - "You prayed for the Cardinal for what happened last week. Today I wanted to thank you. You have shown that you love your Cardinal. You have shown that we are one family", said His Eminence Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, Archbishop of Kinshasa on Sunday, August 8, referring to the assault on his residence and thanked the faithful of his Archdiocese for their prayers and assistance.
On Sunday, August 1st, some demonstrators attacked the Archbishopric of Kinshasa by throwing stones at the facade of the building (see Fides, 3/8/2021). "A group of unidentified people presented themselves at the archbishopric of Kinshasa and at the residence of Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, singing songs and insulting phrases and committing violent acts", denounced Fr. Georges. Njila, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Kinshasa.
Cardinal Ambongo went on to say that he had forgiven both the perpetrators and the instigators of this act: "It happened, but we must pray for these people. As Jesus said, they do not know what they are doing".
It is believed that the attack that the cardinal fell victim to was due to the tensions between the Catholic Church and the government created by the failed election of the President of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), who must be appointed by the main Congolese religious confessions. On July 23, Fr. Donatien Nshole, spokesman for religious denominations had denounced "the pressures, intimidation and threats of all kinds that some members of the platform of religious denominations are exposed to in order to prevent us from doing our work freely". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 12/8/2021)

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