Aid to the Church in Need: Congo: Renewed hopes of peace

Congo: Renewed hopes of peace

Posted by Press Release on 20/11/2002, 6:54 am
Message modified by board administrator 25/11/2002, 11:57 am

RENEWED hopes of peace in Congo have prompted an impassioned plea from a bishop who has called on the international community to stop ignoring the plight of his people.
Monsignor Valentin Masengo from the Democratic Republic of Congo told how the Church was “hoping against hope” for a fresh start to end four years of war which have claimed at least three million lives.
In an appeal to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Bishop of Kabinda, in central Congo, told of how rebel forces from neighbouring Rwanda occupied up to 90 per cent of his diocese and expelled his priests.
Undaunted, many of his diocese’s 35,000 Catholics have stepped in to support eastern Congo’s ailing infrastructure despite the devastation by rebels who have stripped churches bare of valuables.
The Church has watched helpless amid attacks carried out by rebel forces on civilians – many of them women and children – who have suffered massacres, summary executions, abductions, rape and pillage.
Now, hopes are growing of an end to the violence after a series of ceasefires were agreed between several rebel armies who since 1998 have invaded the country from Rwanda in the west and Uganda to the north-west.
Large invading armies – including the Uganda People’s Defence Forces and the Rwandan Patriotic Army - are in retreat following an agreement reached in South Africa in July.
Now comes news of a further ceasefire agreed on Friday (November 15) between smaller rebel armies – the Congolese Rally for Democracy- Liberation Movement and the Union of Congolese Patriots.
On the eve of more peace talks between the opposing sides, Mgr Masengo told staff at ACN’s international project headquarters in Germany: “We are really struggling. We are praying for an end to this war,” said the bishop. “We have cried for help but nobody seems to have heard us.”
Doubts linger over the prospects for peace with outbreaks of violence reported despite ceasefires. Control over Congo’s wealth of natural resources – copper, diamonds and uranium – mean opposing forces are reluctant to relinquish their claims.
As the politicians squabble over the spoils of war, Bishop Masengo told how Catholics had stepped in to help a persecuted people – such as looking after 500 people in a 200-bed hospital and providing care for diseased children suffering severe malnutrition.
Bishop Masengo told how the rebels occupying his diocese had demanded he pay a huge tax to return his priests to their parishes – a sum he said he could not afford. He said as a matter of principle he refused to make the payment.
ACN is considering plans for support to priests and religious in response to his appeal but no fixed deal has yet emerged.
In the past month, ACN has assisted teachers of Catholicism in the Congo with almost 40 bicycles, provided money for schools and gave pastoral support for clergy.
Photo: Monsignor Valentin Masengo from the Democratic Republic of Congo

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