Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sep 25, 2018 / 12:44 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As the Democratic Republic of the Congo prepares to hold a general election in December, after a two-year delay, Catholics in the capital continue to be activists to encourage a peaceful transition of power.
Last month president Joseph Kabila announced he would step down after 17 years in power. The announcement follows years of protests, supported by Catholics bishops, against the delaying of elections.
Kabila has been ruling in defiance of term limits, remaining president two years after he was required to leave office in 2016.
General elections have been scheduled for Dec. 23.
A Mass was held in Kinshasa’s Our Lady of the Congo Cathedral Sept. 19 to commemorate those who died in protests against Kabila in 2016.
The Catholic Lay Committee, a group of lay Catholic activists, organized three protests calling for Kabila to step down after an earlier cancellation of general elections.
Isidor Ndaywel, a member of the group, told La Croix earlier this month that “Kabila’s decision not to stand for a third term was, without doubt, influenced by the church.”
Hesitations about the legitimacy of the scheduled elections remain. The Congolese bishops wrote to the UN Security Council last month with concerns, including the electoral commission’s decision not to allow some opposition parties’ candidates to stand; irregularities of electoral rolls; and the reliability of electronic voting machines.
In early August, security forces fired on opposition protesters with live ammunition and teargas during candidate registration.
The bishops have also appealed to the South African Development Community to help ensure free elections.
Jonas Tshiombela, a spokesman for the Catholic Lay Committee, said that “we want the pre-electoral environment to be safe enough before going to the December vote,” Voice of America reported Sept. 23.
“For now, it is not the case. The contest is filled with uncertainties and irregularities and under such conditions a credible and fair election can’t be held. This the main point of our fight
The Congolese government has accused both the bishops and western governments for interfering in domestic politics.
Both the bishops and lay people alike have been very outspoken critics of Congolese political corruption. The Catholic leadership previously negotiated agreements between Kabila and the opposition, and then actively supported the protests against Kabila when he broke the agreement’s terms.
The Catholic Church is well-respected in the DRC and Catholics make up about 40 percent of the country’s population. Catholic clergy in the Congo are known for courageously standing up to corrupt leaders, such as Mobutu Sese Seko, the DRC’s military dictator from 1965 to 1997.
An estimated five million people were killed between 1997 and 2003 in ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo under Joseph Kabila’s father, Laurent Kabila, who violently overthrew Mobutu. Joseph Kabila took power in 2001 at age of 29 after the assassination of his father.
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The custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton, walks through empty Bethlehem streets during the solemn entrance to the Basilica of the Nativity on Jan. 6, 2024. / Credit: Marinella Bandini
ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 29, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA)…. […]
The sisters Madeleine and Marie-Liesse together with Louis Antona at the entrance of Greece. The three young people covered the distance from Paris to Jerusalem on foot, arriving in mid-May 2024. “I needed to walk 4,500 kilometers to understand that Jesus is not just in Jerusalem, but was by my side every step of the way,” Antona told CNA. / Credit: Photo courtesy of French pilgrims Madeleine and Marie-Liesse
Jerusalem, Jun 18, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
On Sept. 17, 2023, two sisters left Paris and walked for approximately eight months to Jerusalem. Madeleine and Marie-Liesse, 19 and 22, who grew up in a Catholic family, decided to become pilgrims to grow in their faith.
“We needed to make the faith our own,” they told CNA. “This pilgrimage was to discover God, to truly search for him and deepen our faith. We learned that we can trust God; he takes care of us in everything. The Gospel is not a joke.”
Two months later, in mid-November 2023, Louis Antona, 24, also left Paris on foot, bound for Jerusalem. The three young people met providentially in Albania, walked together through Turkey, then parted ways and reunited in Jerusalem. They shared the story of their pilgrimage with CNA.
“I needed to walk 4,500 kilometers to understand that Jesus is not just in Jerusalem but was by my side every step of the way,” Antona told CNA. He walked a total of 189 days and arrived in Jerusalem on May 18.
Madeleine and Marie-Liesse — who asked that their last name not be used to protect their privacy — left from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre in the center of Paris with the blessing of their parents and a priest.
“It was a calling from God,” Madeleine said of the decision she and her sister made to leave. “There’s no need for reasons when God calls; you simply need to follow what he tells you.”
Madeleine and Marie-Liesse during a moment of their journey, between Slovenia and Croatia. “The faith of the people struck us: during Advent, tradition dictates that Mass be attended every morning at 6, and every time we went, the church was packed with people,” they told CNA. The two sisters left Paris on September 17, 2023, and walked for about eight months to Jerusalem. Credit: Courtesy of French pilgrims Madeleine and Marie-Liesse
The sisters created a simple blog to keep friends and family updated on their pilgrimage. The photos and brief stories reveal all the freshness of two young people on a journey while not hiding moments of doubt and difficulty.
“We chose to embark on this journey as beggars,” Marie-Liesse told CNA. “We left with just a few clothes and nothing else — no food, no money. We wanted to surrender ourselves into the hands of providence. Every evening, we knocked on people’s doors asking for shelter, a bed, and food. The Lord always provided.”
Their days were marked by walking and prayer.
“We didn’t have a strict rule because we had to adapt every day to the people who hosted us, the place, and the situation,” Marie-Liesse explained. “But we had a framework: We knew we had to pray in the morning, at midday, at night… It was important for us to be faithful to God. Every day, we also recited a rosary, praying for the intentions entrusted to us.”
The most challenging moment was making the decision to continue the journey after hearing that war had broken out in the Holy Land. “We were in Germany and full of doubts about whether to go on.”
Their journey led them to cross Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia. In Croatia, “the faith of the people struck us: during Advent, tradition dictates that Mass be attended every morning at 6, and every time we went, the church was packed with people,” the sisters wrote on their blog.
They stopped for a month in Medjugorje (Bosnia and Herzegovina), where their family joined them for Christmas.
“It was a difficult time. Again, we didn’t know what to do. But after a period of discernment, we realized that Christ was calling us back on the road again,” Madeleine said.
Madeleine and Marie-Liesse crossed Montenegro and arrived in Albania, where they encountered Antona.
“I had just finished my studies and wanted to offer something to God,” Antona told CNA. “I wasn’t sure what, but I thought that the best thing I had at that time was time itself. So, I decided to offer God a year of my life by embarking on a journey. It was a challenge; I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy walking and being alone.”
Louis Antona, 24, during a moment of his journey. “I had just finished my studies and wanted to offer something to God,” he told CNA. “I thought that the best thing I had at that time was time itself. So, I decided to offer God a year of my life by embarking on a journey.” Credit: Photo courtesy of Louis Antona
Antona decided to leave, despite the war. “I believe the hardest part of a pilgrimage like this is deciding to start. I knew that if I gave up because of the war, I would never do it again. Anyway, I thought that by the time I arrived, the war would already be over.”
Madeleine and Marie-Liesse are filled with wonder at the manifestation of providence in every detail of their pilgrimage, in the beautiful weather and in the rain, in every small encounter — those who hosted them after seeing them at the bus stop, those who taught them how to make bread, the gentleman who opened his door just before a downpour. “If we had arrived a minute later, we wouldn’t have met him,” they said.
The encounter with Antona wasn’t coincidental either. The two sisters had prayed to God to give them a travel companion.
“We planned to not go through Turkey because we were two women alone, but we would have liked to go that way. So we asked God to meet one pilgrim, and we met him,” the sisters explained.
The three crossed Macedonia and Greece, arriving in Turkey on Palm Sunday. In this predominantly Muslim country, they celebrated Easter, warmly welcomed by the small French-speaking community there.
The sisters Madeleine and Marie-Liesse together with Louis Antona received a blessing from a priest during a Mass in Turkey. They arrived in Turkey on Palm Sunday 2024. In this predominantly Muslim country, they celebrated Easter, warmly welcomed by the small French-speaking community there. Credit: Photo courtesy of Louis Antona
“Every day of this pilgrimage was a miracle,” Antona said. “Every day we have met people who smiled or were nice to us. I have to say that in Turkey we found the most welcoming people.”
“It is not uncommon for the Turks to spontaneously lend us a hand,” Madeleine and Marie-Liesse wrote on their blog. “In Turkey, we encountered an infinite respect for passing strangers and for Christianity, even though Christians here are forced to protect themselves from regular attacks.”
The arrival of Madeleine and Marie-Liesse in Albania. In the photo, Marie-Liesse is in front of a statue of Mother Teresa, who was originally from this country. “Every evening, we knocked on people’s doors asking for shelter, a bed, and food. The Lord always provided,” they told CNA. Credit: Photo courtesy of French pilgrims Madeleine and Marie-Liesse
Upon leaving Turkey, the paths of the three pilgrims split again. The sisters’ route went through Cyprus but they could not find a way from there to Jerusalem by sea due to suspension of transportation because of the war. Providentially, they met someone in Cyprus who offered to pay for airfare, and the sisters arrived in Tel Aviv on May 6. Three days later, on the feast of the Ascension, they were in Jerusalem.
“Many times, we thought we couldn’t reach Jerusalem,” Madeleine said. “We learned that the journey is even more important than reaching the goal. Being here is a great gift, just to be here.”
“We unpacked our bags once and for all, knelt before this Holy Land, and prayed. What peace, what a moment of grace! As we admired the sunrise and the golden light that brought color to the roofs of the old city, we could reread the wonders of God and meditate on the Gospels. His infinite love overwhelmed us,” the two sisters wrote on their blog.
The sisters Madeleine and Marie-Liesse received a blessing from a Franciscan friar at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher after their arrival in Jerusalem. “The greatest gift is to be here and understand what happened here, to see with our own eyes, to witness the actual places,” Madeleine said. “We were able to pause in every place, to pray and meditate in silence.” Credit: Photo courtesy of French pilgrims Madeleine and Marie-Liesse
Madeleine has no doubts: “Prayer is what carried us. When you’re weak, that’s when you’re strongest because that’s when God can act in you; you don’t take up all the space. Trusting in God can be challenging, but when you understand that God only wants you to be happy and will give you everything you need, then you realize you have everything to be happy in this moment; you can trust him.”
Ten days later, on the eve of Pentecost, Antona also arrived in Jerusalem. “Even if I had to stop somewhere else, at least I would have aimed to reach Jerusalem. This is a very important city for Christians, but the journey you take to reach it is also very important.”
French pilgrim Louis Antona arrived in Jerusalem on May 18, at the vigil of Pentecost. “Every day of this pilgrimage was a miracle,” he said. Credit: Photo courtesy of Louis Antona
The three pilgrims are still in the Holy Land. They have had the opportunity to participate in various celebrations and to visit the holy places in addition to many other sites in the area.
“The greatest gift is to be here and understand what happened here, to see with our own eyes, to witness the actual places,” Madeleine said. “We were able to pause in every place, to pray and meditate in silence.”
A journey like this isn’t for everyone, but all three of the pilgrims agree that “if God calls you, go in peace. If God helps you, everything becomes possible.”
The French pilgrims rest under the portico of the Church of the Beatitudes on a hill overlooking the Sea of Galilee. In the photo is Louis Antona. A journey like this isn’t for everyone, but, the three young people said, “if God calls you, go in peace. If God helps you, everything becomes possible.” Credit: Photo courtesy of French pilgrims Madeleine and Marie-Liesse
Bangassou, Central African Republic, Oct 25, 2017 / 03:04 am (ACI Prensa).- Especially in war-torn Central African Republic, Christians are called to the virtues of forgiveness and mercy, reflected a priest from Chile who has spent 12 years as a missionary in the central African country.
“Being a Christian in the Central African Republic means witnessing to the forgiveness and mercy of God,” Fr. Yovane Cox told ACI Prensa.
The Central African Republic has suffered violence since December 2012, when several bands of mainly Muslim rebel groups formed an alliance, taking the name Seleka. They left their strongholds in the north of the country and made their way south, seizing power from then-president Francois Bozize. Their president was in turn ousted in a negotiated transition in January 2014.
In reaction to the Seleka’s attacks, some Central Africans formed self-defense groups called anti-balaka. Some of these groups, mainly composed of Christians, began attacking Muslims out of revenge, and the conflict took on a sectarian character.
The civil war has officially ended and the Seleka have been disbanded, but ex-Seleka and anti-balaka groups have continued to terrorize local populations. Thousands of people have been killed in the violence, and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes.
Fr. Cox is a pastor in Bema, near Bangassou in the country’s southeast.
In the context of the Central African Republic’s extreme poverty, the Chilean missionary of the Gran Rio Mission Association has managed to build a school for 300 children and hopes to build another with the capacity for 400 students.
Fr. Cox said the sectarian violence urgently calls for “showing mercy” and to “being ready to forgive, to help people to overcome terrible things such as death of a loved one or the destruction of their village.”
The priest related his own experience of persecution and violence when in June this year he had to flee, along with his faithful, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to seek refuge.
“I was lying on the floor of the church for hours waiting for the fighting to end. Then I left and came across some extremely angry people, so I asked myself, “How can I be a witness to Christ in the midst of this terrible situation?”
“Like every pastor I was the last to leave the village, using a dugout canoe,” Fr. Cox recalled, “and when I got to the other side, to the Congo, I was welcomed by all the people, even by those who were indifferent to me in the village.”
“Everyone gave me a hug and told me ‘Father, we were waiting for you.’ When people say ‘father’ to you so many times, the meaning of the word is lost sometimes, but there I experienced it. I said to myself ‘these are my children, they were waiting for me just like for a father,” the missionary said.
The persecution of Christians in the Central African Republic are undergoing is coming from a mostly Muslim group “which is being politically manipulated,” Fr. Cox said.
“There is a hidden political agenda, no one wants to say it, but it’s the reality. It does a lot of harm and is dividing the country. Only in the capital, Bangui, thanks to the presence of Pope Francis in 2015, was the Muslim population able to be reconciled with the rest of the citizens.”
The priest also said that the the country’s terrain “is extremely rich” thanks to oil and diamonds. Though it has immense natural resources, the country “is mired down in extreme poverty and curiously no international concern or nation is interested in the resources.”
“The United Nations is present but they’re not doing a good job and they haven’t succeeded in defusing this conflict or making progress toward reconciliation. The Church is the only only institution doing something for the people. Africa is suffering from terrible indifference,” from the outside world, he lamented.
Faced with this, Fr. Cox encouraged Catholics to show their solidarity with persecuted Christians in Africa in three ways, beginning with overcoming indifference.
“If we don’t resolve Africa’s problems, how are we going to stop emigration? In face of this indifference the only solution is to open up your heart and recognize that we’re all humans beings and we have the same dignity before God and each other,” he stated.
Secondly, concrete actions. “Many people help out by donating to Aid to the Church in Need and they carry out various projects here. But also it can be done on a personal level; for example, I have 60 Chileans who are paying for the tuition for one child for a whole year.”
Finally, but no less important, is prayer: “If we didn’t have the prayers of the Church, I think the Church in the Central African Republic would have failed in its missionary work.”
“We would have become discouraged and abandoned the people, but there is something that fortifies the soul of all missionaries and that is that we know that we have the support of a lot of people behind us,” Fr. Cox emphasized.
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