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Cardinal Ambongo Urges DR Congo Bishops to be “artisans of hope”, Reaffirms Church's Commitment to Reconciliation

Jude Atemanke

By Jude Atemanke

Kinshasa, 09 October, 2025 / 11:26 pm (ACI Africa).

Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kinshasa has called for peace and reconciliation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), urging Bishops in the country to be “artisans of hope” amid insecurity, poverty, and social division.

In his remarks during the opening ceremony of the Provincial Episcopal Assembly of Kinshasa (ASSEPKIN), Cardinal Ambongo recalled the Church’s prophetic responsibility in the face of the suffering of the Congolese people.

“We carry in our prayers all the victims of violence, tribalism, war, and injustice. We pray for true peace and reconciliation in our country,” the Congolese Cardinal said during the Tuesday, October 7 event that was held at Nganda Catholic Center in Kintambo.

He urged solidarity and pastoral closeness, encouraging his brother Bishops to remain “artisans of hope and trust in a world marked by fear and resignation.”

“Our vocation as Bishops calls us to rekindle the flame of faith within the People of God. Christian hope is not merely an inner attitude, but a force that transforms the world,” Cardinal Ambongo said.

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The Local Ordinary of Kinshasa Archdiocese, who also serves as President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s commitment to working for peace, justice, and national reconciliation, in communion with members of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) and the universal Church.

“The Lord calls us to be sentinels of the people, those who keep watch through the night and announce the new dawn of a reconciled and united Congo,” the Congolese member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap) further said.

For Cardinal Ambongo, the Church’s mission cannot be separated from the struggle for human dignity and the common good:

“To promote true peace, respect for human dignity, and solidarity is to participate in building the Kingdom of God at the heart of our country,” he emphasized.

In the spirit of the multi-year Synod on Synodality that was concluded on 27 October 2024 in Rome, the Ecclesiastical Province of Kinshasa seeks to continue building a more participatory, missionary Church that remains close to the realities of the Congolese people.

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“The Church is communion; it is called to become ever more synodal. We are working towards this with perseverance and hope,” Cardinal Ambongo said.

He described the October 7-11 session as a “moment of grace and discernment,” inviting the Bishops to live it in a spirit of fraternity, prayer, and mutual listening.

“It is a moment of ecclesial communion in which we wish to reflect together on the life of our Church and on the mission the Lord entrusts to us at the heart of our Congolese society,” Cardinal Ambongo said.

According to the Cardinal, ASSEPKIN represents an essential space for dialogue among the shepherds of the Ecclesiastical Province of Kinshasa, aimed at strengthening the Church’s evangelizing mission and pastoral cohesion.

Also speaking during the session, the General Coordinator of the Technical Secretariat of the Social Pact for Peace and Harmonious Coexistence in the DRC and the Great Lakes, reminded the Bishops that “hope is not passive expectation but an active force.”

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Didier Mumengi urged the Bishops to remain “living witnesses of faith and anchors of stability in a troubled world.”

Reflecting on the wounded memory of the Congolese people, Mr. Mumengi invited the Church to once again become the “sentinel of the people and the conscience of the nation.”

He explained that the Social Pact, an initiative of members of CENCO in collaboration with their counterparts in the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC), seeks to promote collective redemption, launching the Month of Peace and a National Dialogue inspired by intelligence and spiritual responsibility.

Mr. Mumengi emphasized that peace and social harmony require both “national resilience and geostrategic strength, sustained by active faith and dialogue.”

“Hope,” he declared, “is not an escape into heaven, but the courage to transform the earth.”

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Jude Atemanke

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.