by M. Kya Musoke, , Kinshasa, Congo (RDC), 7 July 1997
THEME = CHURCH-STATE
The Catholic Bishops of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, members of the permanent Bishops' Committee, held their ordinary meeting from 23 to 28 June this year, at the end of which they issued an important message of hope and encouragement to all faithful Catholics and people of goodwill.
In this message, the Bishops of the Congo appealed to those running the country. This appeal was the result of their bitter recognition, that since the fall of the dictatorship and the coming of the new regime, Kabila is following in Mobutu's footsteps.
They stressed that it was a kind of round table, where all the active forces in the country "sought and found" a national consensus for rebuilding the Nation in peace and reconciliation, on a solid foundation. What is more, the bishops believe that the new plan for society suggested by the CNS, remains a real call to conversion for the Nation, and still remains valid, given that it contains essential fundamentals on which to base a legitimate state.
The Catholic bishops have taken a courageous and basically objective stand, given that the new government of the country has rejected out of hand the Decisions of the CNS, stating that they are not needed.
Moreover, after evaluating the true worth of the rather unhappy outcome of the country's war of liberation, the Catholic bishops earnestly hoped that the advent of the new government would see the installation of a legitimate State, in which human life and the dignity of every human person would be respected, as well as all other fundamental human rights.
Not a day goes by in Kinshasa without people being burned to death with tyres in necklace killings, accused of trumped-up charges such as theft, witchcraft, being an enemy of the people, etc. These scenes of horror and other incitements to hatred are deliberately and widely publicised by the media, doubtless to dull the edge of popular conscience!
As an example, Mr. Laurent Kabila's AFDL is a State- party as was Mr.Mobutu's MPR, and the secretary-general of the AFDL, Mr.Deo-Gratias Bugera, sees himself as the second person of the Republic, after the President, as was the first Vice-President of the central committee of the MPR.
What is more, the practices condemned under the dictatorship have resurfaced: political vote-catching when appointing those in charge, nepotism, struggles for influence, personality cults, etc.
In another moving exhortation, the bishops asked the country's leaders and all citizens, to put God first. They know what they are talking about, since the new leaders are planning to set up a Marxist-Leninist society in the country, based on class struggle. They are already seizing and confiscating the possessions and property of Mobutu's former colleagues, and giving them to anyone they wish. Everyone is asking how they can establish this Marxist- Leninist system in a country where more than 80% of the people are Christians, whether Catholic, Protestant or Kimbanguist.
This message from the Bishops of the Congo is a positive contribution to the reconstruction of the country. It is being read and re-read in all churches, so as to make the silent majority aware. Priests and people are now convinced that the totalitarian drift of the AFDL must be stopped before it is too late. They are also convinced that only a conversion of heart and a radical change in mentality can help the country build a more just and loving society.
Finally, it must be remembered that the permanent Committee of Bishops, is the second most important institution of the Episcopal Conference of Congo-Kinshasa, after the plenary assembly of all Bishops. It consists of all the archbishops and all the bishops who chair episcopal commissions. The country's bishops criticised the former dictator many times. He's been overthrown because of the anti-values of hi regime. In the light of a real renewal in the reconstruction of the country, the bishops now conclude that "the people as a whole will act out their own destiny".
END