Bishops in DRC’s Kisangani Ecclesiastical Province Decry Insecurity, Attacks on Priests

Kisangani, 18 March, 2020 / 4:46 AM

The rising cases of insecurity within the Ecclesiastical Province of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) including “cases of aggression on Priests” is a major concern of Church leaders in the region of the Central African country, acts they have strongly condemned during their recent meeting of the Provincial Episcopal Assembly of Kisangani (ASSEPKIS).

“The Bishops deplored the persistence of insecurity in several areas of the Ecclesiastical Province in Ituri, in Tshopo, as well as in Haut-Uélé and Bas-Uélé,” reads a press statement signed by the Secretary of ASSEPKIS, Fr. Archangel Kampi, following the March 9-12 meeting.

According to the statement seen by ACI Africa, the Bishops decried several unfortunate events in the Ecclesiastical Province including “cases of aggression suffered by some priests in the Diocese of Bunia.”

Last week, Father Guy-Robert Mandro, Parish Priest of the Immaculate Heart Parish of Fataki in Bunia diocese was attacked by assailants armed with machetes and guns causing the cleric injuries and dismembered fingers.

The Diocese of Bunia is located in the north eastern region of DRC, an area that has been characterized with inter-ethnic conflict since the 2000s. 

The violence that escalated in 2017 led to the deaths of at least 700 people while hundreds have been injured and sexually abused, the UN Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) recorded in its January 2020 statistics.

“At the origin of this situation, they (Bishops) pointed mainly to the abusive exploitation of natural resources, land conflicts, particularly around the problems of the Lomami and Garamba parks, the failure to take into account the needs of the local populations and the exploitation of certain social categories by economic and political interest groups,” the statement reads further.

It continues, “This situation keeps the population in poverty which contrasts with the potentials that abound in the Ecclesiastical Province.”

“In the face of all these problems,” the letter says, “the Bishops advocated the promotion of justice in conformity with the truth, the strengthening of the authority of the State, good governance of the Administrative Provinces, vigilance and sensitization of the population to resist all forms of manipulation and a pastoral care of reconciliation.”

Further, the Prelates acknowledged progress in the socio-political situation of the country “in the fight against the Ebola virus, the rehabilitation of urban roads and highways, the reduction of barriers, the negotiation between the authorities and certain armed groups.”

In conclusion, the Bishops members of ASSEPKIS recommended “to all the Catholic faithful, men and women of good will living in the Ecclesiastical Province of Kisangani to regain confidence in themselves and to resolutely get back to work, looking to the future with hope.”

The three-day meeting was chaired by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Kisangani, Marcel Utembi.

Also in attendance were Vicars General, the Secretary General of  National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO), the Rectors of three provincial houses of formation, the provincial leaders of the Union of Major Superiors (USUMA) and the Association of Major Superiors (ASUMA), the Council of the Apostolate of the Catholic Laity of the Congo (CALCC) and the Provincial Office of the Catholic Convention Schools.