Published on: 04/12/2022 – 04:58 Modified on: 04/12/2022 – 14:16
This Sunday, December 4, 2022, the Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is calling on the Congolese to march to draw attention to the security situation in the east of the country and to denounce the presence of the M23. In the capital, Kinshasa, the faithful demonstrated, but access to the city center, in the municipality of Gombe, the administrative center and district of the Chancellery, was banned.
With our special correspondent, Paulina Zidi and our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa
On the occasion of this church-initiated gathering, it was expected that the various processions of migrants in Kinshasa would converge at two western chanceries, the administrative headquarters of the government and a crossroads near MONUSCO, but the authorities stopped there.
The police were deployed in avenues leading to parishes. The processions start after the first mass at 6:30 am. All other Sunday services have been cancelled. After this single Mass, the Catholic faithful were diverted from the inner-city parishes to the People’s Palace, the seat of Parliament. Along the way, they sang religious hymns interspersed with slogans in support of the army. Others released hostile messages towards Rwanda, who have been accused of supporting them the M23.
No, no to the hypocrisy of the international community!
In the procession, the anger of the Kimbanseke protesters in Kinshasa
Some officials, such as the President of the Senate and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Interior, took part in the march, which took place under close police surveillance. Messages set out in a memorandum were read by a priest of the Archdiocese outside the seat of Parliament. This memorandum, signed by the Archbishop of Kinshasa, must in principle be deposited in embassies and political institutions on Monday.
The Church attacks the international community
The Church calls on the government to suspend the participation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Francophonie and to leave the community of East African States. Catholics also want Monusco, the UN mission in the DRC, to leave the country because they believe the international community is taking responsibility for the crisis. According to religious leaders, they are not defending the country against Rwanda’s aggression by the M23. A message to this effect was also read out this morning at the end of the Mass.
In the absence of the country, Cardinal Ambongo will not take part in the march of his faithful against the “aggression” of the #RDC from Rwanda. He calls for people to “take to the streets” to express “fed up” in the face of the decades-long crisis in the East. pic.twitter.com/aDqUBL94YA
—Pascal Mulegwa (@pascal_mulegwa) December 3, 2022
These statements are in line with the goal that the Congolese Church has shown by calling for demonstrations this Sunday. The institution wants to “denounce the war of oppression that the Ground floor and the hypocrisy of the international community”.
Congregations also in the rest of the country
Nevertheless, the Cenco warned him that these demonstrations were not political rallies. Party affiliations were not to be disclosed, although government and opposition representatives were expected to attend the various meetings.
The call for demonstrations was also heard outside the capital. Demonstrators demonstrated in Lubumbashi, the capital of Haut-Katanga province, in Kisangani in the center of the country or in Beni, one of the epicenters of violence in eastern DRC. In Goma, the rally was canceled by the organizers to “avoid possible infiltrations”.
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