Both Jean Baptiste Cyaba and Jean Bruno belong to the Diocese of Mbujimayi and are pursuing their bachelor's degrees in Theology in the Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarra thanks to a grant from the CARF Foundation. They are looking forward to Pope Francis' trip to the Congo. "I wish the Pope an excellent trip to my country, and may God answer and fulfill all your prayers for peace, well-being, justice, charity and dignity for all the countries of the Great Lakes. May Jesus Christ always reign in the hearts and lives of all my countrymen", affirms Jean Baptiste.
- How are your compatriots looking forward to the visit of Pope Francis? How do you think this visit could improve conditions in the country? Many Christians of non-Catholic denominations are also looking forward to the visit of the Holy Father.
Whatever one's religious profession, the pope is considered to be a spiritual authority of the highest order. He has at his disposal effective spiritual means to bring about peace and common welfare where human and material means have sometimes failed.
Because of his ability to be heard by everyone, his word can be used to bring together and to bring into agreement those divergent horizons between people who are visibly opposed to each other. His worldwide spiritual fame, his authority in public opinion as the successor of St. Peter will obviously contribute to the listening and following of his message by all.
- What are the most important apostolic needs of your diocese?
From my point of view, the most important apostolic needs of my diocese are: to continue with the maintenance of the clergy and to establish and promote the laity engaged in diocesan pastoral work to a permanent and quality formation. In our diocese violent sectarianism that rejects the official positions of the Church en bloc. They truncate the truth only to attract the masses, mostly young and with great difficulty in seeking the truth for themselves, in the manuals authorized by the Church which they do not have. This need implies the creation of diocesan bookstores and strengthening the publishing house of our pastoral center, our library and our media so that the Gospel message can continue to be better heard by God's people and the whole world.
The second need is to truly go to the meeting of the poorest of our population, especially in villages far from the cities, to alleviate as far as possible their suffering by proclaiming and listening to the Word. Formative talks to help them discover the opportunities offered by their areas of life in order to take advantage of them and thus be able to live with dignity as sons and daughters of the heavenly Father.
The first two needs are to improve the spiritual and internal aspect of our diocese. I see the third need as that of improving the physical appearance of some parish churches that lack worthy infrastructures to reveal the beauty of life in Christ which is the Church's greatest goal under the sun.
- What about the needs of the Catholic Church in Congo?
As for the Church of the Congo, we wish to see the successors of the apostles live in true cohesion and without faults in their individual or community positions, in the face of social issues that often oppose the Church to the State in the interest of the Congolese people, whatever their tendency.
For it often happens that some of their positions, especially individual ones, lose their objectivity by adopting positions clearly based on non-evangelical and non-ecclesial criteria, especially when it comes to politics and the temporal.
In short, it is necessary to see them sacrifice themselves instead of sacrificing the truth in order to promote only the truth of the Gospel, which alone can oppose themselves, the people of God and the politicians of any horizon, so that the kingship of Christ may reign forever.
- The country is experiencing conflict due to terrorist threats from Islamic radicalism and other economic issues due to subsoil wealth. What is the role of the Catholic Church in mediating social conflicts?
The role of the Catholic Church from my point of view is to recall the principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church. These principles seem to me to be very well known by priests and little publicized among God's people, even among political rulers. The dignity of the human person as a creature of God; social justice, based on a just distribution of material goods; subsidiarity, according to which the richer must help the poor, the stronger must support the weak; all these must be spread more widely.
To achieve this, the Church must promote among the nations, in conflict in the East of our country, a dialogue on the true values such as the virtues of truth, justice, charity, peace, clearly giving reason to those who have it and advising those who do not have it a more just and united way of living.
Jean Bruno, who is studying for a doctorate in Canon Law, is looking forward to Pope Francis' trip to the Congo: "The Congolese are awaiting the arrival of the Holy Father Francis with all their hearts. It has been a long time since Pope John Paul II visited the country on May 2, 1980. I was not even born. That is why we can say that it is like the first time we received the Holy Father", he says.
For him, "this apostolic visit is desired not only by Catholics, but also by Christians of other religious confessions, because the Pope is the shepherd of shepherds and comes with a message of reconciliation. He brings us peace and harmony among peoples. We need God's peace through his envoy, the Holy Father Francis, and nothing else".
"The most important apostolic needs of our diocese of Mbuji-Mayi, and those of our country of Congo, are many. To cite a few of them: first of all, the one and the first apostolic need that we have at the level of the diocese and of the country is that of evangelization. To facilitate this evangelization, we must have access to the means of communication (television, radio, internet etc.); infrastructure (roads, bridges etc.) and also means of transportation which is a serious problem for my diocese and for some others in the country".
"Secondly, there is no access for all to basic social services such as education (school and university infrastructures, quality of teaching, health, parks), because they also facilitate evangelization. There is no water available to all and no electricity. Without electricity, we cannot reach all these means of evangelization. The realization of all this will facilitate evangelization, which is an apostolic desire and need for us.
As for the conflicts in his country, Jean Bruno believes that, rather than due to terrorist threats from Islamic radicalism, they are due to the subsoil wealth that is being used by politics at the international level. "We have lost many of our compatriots because of this wealth. Blood flows so far as what happened recently on January 15 in a Pentecostal church in the village of Kasindi, located more or less 80 kilometers from the city of Beni. Terrorist acts are multiplying from day to day in the eastern part of the country. There are many rebel groups (M23, ADF, FDLR...) in this part of the country supported by the foreign hand that wins and enjoys. When they win, the others die every day", he laments.
For this priest, the Catholic Church, in the midst of the people, should play the role of mediation to facilitate the agreement between the parties in conflict. "Our president sought the path of peace, but without success. Therefore, we believe that, with the trip of Pope Francis to Congo, with his message of reconciliation, the country will have peace because true peace comes from God. The Church must be neutral and take its responsibilities, unite the parties as St. Paul asks us in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 1:10-11) so that there will be no divisions in our midst. The Church must not lose this sense.
In conclusion, he considers that the Church of the Congo has many difficulties and the only one who can make the change to move forward is the Roman Pontiff. "The Church is the Church of Christ and not of someone as many think. The Church has its law, its legislation and we have to follow it", he concludes.
Marta Santín,
Journalist specializing in religious information.
