Life and Death in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Despite being the world’s wealthiest country in terms of natural resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo is the second-poorest country in the world, financially. The majority-Catholic country is gripped by famine, disease and widespread violence. Supporting the Catholic Church in the DRC is a priority for our pontifical charity.
By Clodagh Gallagher
Aerial view of the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Credit: Emeric Fohlen/ Aid To The Church In Need.)
How much do you know about the Democratic Republic of Congo? Did you know that with a population of 90 million, it is the most populous French-speaking country in the world? Did you know that 6 million people were murdered in the DRC from 1996 to 2008? That’s 45,000 people massacred every month. After 2008 the death toll dropped, but it remains the world’s bloodiest war since World War II. Did you know that 50% of the country are Catholic – with a further 20% of people adhering to various Protestant denominations? These brothers and sisters in Christ live in lush green plains that span 2.345 million square kilometres, bordered at their nation’s perimeter by three dusty red mountain ranges.
In stark contrast with such abundant natural beauty, is the sad fact that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the DRC) is the second-poorest country in the world, with an average annual income of €645 per family. Not only are the Congolese people starving and malnourished, but they live in constant fear of the unceasing massacres of civilians at the hands of foreign armies, rebel groups and ad hoc militia groups. The country suffers such violent instability for a number of reasons: i) foreign greed for the nation’s plentiful natural resources worth an estimated €20 trillion; ii) neighbouring countries with expansionist interests backed by foreign powers; iii) violent conflict between local and national governments; iv) rebel militia brutality; v) tribal violence.
Confiscated weapons that were used in tribal violence where civilians were slaughtered. (Credit: Aid To The Church In Need.)
One commonly used weapon in these many adjacent wars, is that of rape. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, one woman is raped every single minute. In addition to this rampant physical, spiritual, emotional and psychological trauma, Congolese women also suffer a resultant high rate of STDs. Another weapon used by the many warring groups in the DRC is that of cannibalism. The Mbuti pygmy people make of 2% of the country’s population. During the 1996-2008 war, they were hunted down like game animals and eaten because they inhabited land that foreign armies and Congelese rebel groups wanted to mine for minerals – and also because both sides of the Civil War regarded the Mbuti as “subhuman” and expendable. Today, they are used as slaves by Bantu “masters”.
In the midst of this evil, the Catholic Church shines as a light in the darkness – a beacon of hope providing the Sacraments to combat the serious spiritual warfare suffered by all in the DRC. In the absence of stable governance, the Catholic Church is the backbone of the country, responsible for building very basic hospitals and running schools, clinics, farms and shops. However, none of the country’s dioceses are fully financially self-sufficient – all rely on international humanitarian aid to help them care for their people, who suffer the effects of war, rape, militia violence and massacre, famine, disease and extreme poverty. After a recent increase in bloody massacres of civilians in the north-east, these people need our care more than ever.
Displaced Congolese people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Catholic Church is the only organised opposition to the ongoing massacres. (Credit: Aid To The Church In Need.)
Bishop Melchisédech Sikuli Paluku of the Diocese of Butembo-Beni begs for help from the universal Church on behalf of his people. In a video that he sent to Aid To The Church In Need, he says “I hope that there is help for the poor people here. Having been on the Via Dolorosa for so many years, we feel as though we have been abandoned.” He sends images of the blood-soaked ground where 1,000 people were murdered with machetes in his diocese in the last year alone, remarking: “This has been happening for the last ten years. The situation has drastically deteriorated since 2014. One massacre follows the next.” He deplores the indifference of the government and media in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whom he says:
“report nothing. The only thing that our politicians care about is getting a share of the power. The people here simply don’t count. They have the feeling that the government doesn’t even exist here. We feel as though the state authorities have abandoned us.”
Despite the dire situation in the DRC, Bishop Paluku still has hope that the situation will improve:
“Despite the difficult situation and our human limitations, the Church is so alive and growing. During the centenary year I was almost always on the go. I spent three or four days in each of our thirty-six parishes, which are missions themselves, set in vast stretches of land, and some difficult to reach. There’s a pressing need to open ten more parishes to respond to the necessities of the Christian life of our people, and we would open them if we had more personnel. But the thing that struck me most, living in such contact with people, is how important the Catholic faith is to them. How people find comfort in faith, despite the difficulties and sufferings, people who live it in a very simple but also profound fashion. I heard several people use the phrase ‘if after so many years of war, we are still here it is only by the grace of God’. I was moved by the purity of heart with which they pronounced those words.”
Bishop Melchisédech Sikuli Paluku ordaining 72 seminarians to the priesthood during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Credit: Aid To The Church In Need.)
If you are in a position to help our brothers and sisters who are suffering so intensely in the Democratic Republic of Congo and many other countries, please donate to our pontifical charity. The DRC is a priority for ACN - last year we supported the formation of 1,229 seminarians across 41 seminaries in the country. We support many priests with Mass stipends, which are their only form of income. One of the beneficiaries, Father Alain Mwila Wa Ilunga, wrote to tell us that he shares the financial aid “with the poorest of the poor and the destitute sick so that they may have daily bread to eat.” Father Clément Mwehu Muteba said he will use it buy gas, so that he can continue to carry out his apostolate at the chapel he has been assigned. Thanks to the Mass stipends, he can also “buy some sheets of paper, which are necessary to teach the young people” he works with in Lubumbashi in the province of Upper Katanga.” Father André Mpundu, vicar in the parish of the Blessed Anuarita in Kasenga said that the stipends “secure our livelihood and safeguard the lives of thousands of believers who, through our humble efforts, hear the Holy Word of God and can receive the sacraments”. To ensure the survival of the sisters, and answering a plea by Archbishop François-Xavier Maroy of Bukavu, ACN has approved aid for 69 communities of sisters from six different congregations serving in the six dioceses of the ecclesiastical province of Bukavu. The grant of €135,000 will benefit 464 women religious.
Anything you give helps - no amount is too small. Help us to save lives, save souls and save the faith. If your heart has been moved by the plight of the Congolese people, please remember them in your prayers.