Pope Francis, a dove of peace in the world

 


                                                     

After putting off his apostolic journey in DRC that was supposed to be held last July, Pope Francis finally honored his promise to the Congolese people last January 31. The previous papal journey in D.R. Congo was done by John Paul II in August 1985. 

Young people who had not yet seen a pope visiting their country for 35 years, were very happy to welcome Pope Francis in Congo. D.R.C is currently insecure because of not only war in the Eastern part of the country but also a political climate that is thoroughly unstable. 

According to many Congolese, the visit of a Roman Catholic leader gave them hope, since they believe that God will help them achieve reconciliation through the word of faith and peace uttered by Pope Francis in this second big country in Africa.

Reconciliation

As I mentioned, Congo is the second big country in Africa after Algeria. It also has many people, tribes, cultures, and languages. Regarding languages, people from the East and the West don’t speak the same language. In the Eastern part, people speak Swahili while in the West, they speak Lingala. 

Due to the fact that the Eastern part is close to Rwanda, people from that side are not considered Congolese by people from the west. This had shocked me for the two years I had been in Kinshasa.

The inhabitants of Kinshasa, a metropolitan city of DRC, are very proud of themselves and speak their language fluently. However, if you are not able to speak their language as they do, you are straight away identified as a foreigner from Rwanda.

This neighbor country of DRC is accused by the majority of Congolese to be the source of their trouble. The Republic Democratic of Congo needs to be united as one country in order to solve their multiple problems. Pain is alleviated only when it is shared.

A fish rots from the head

“The Congolese people are now confronted with a multifaceted crisis: armed conflict especially in the East, economic crisis, and social misery”, said Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo in his speech in front of the pope. 

Who is the source of this burdensome situation that the Congolese are living in? The Authorities or Rwanda? During my stay in Congo, I was touched when I noticed that young people are very interested to know and react to what is going on in their country, especially the political issue. 

Most of the Congolese don’t mince their words to say that the current president didn’t win the election. Could this explain the reason why the country is still struggling to get its people out of poverty? 

By the way, the government has a lot to do before the upcoming election. If there is no sliding of the electoral schedule, the election will be held on December 20 this year. The fish which always rots from the head is the government which is at the top. 

In fact, government officials are corrupted in many sectors of the country; they don’t care of the misery of their compatriots. They must work to give the best of themselves by developing the country.

Normally, politicians talk too much during their electoral campaign in order to convince people to vote for them. What are they going to talk about in this upcoming campaign? During the meeting held in the stadium of martyrs between the pope and youth people, the latter were booing the president saying:” Fatshi oyebela, mandat esili.”, which is translated as: Fatshi, get ready, your term is over. 

This is a speaking sign that shows that some Congolese are tired of the leadership of the president. For sure, during his pastoral journey, Pope Francis didn’t miss to address the failures of the Congolese politicians, including the president. I hope that very soon, things will be on the right path.

South Soudan (A young country in the world)

Sitting in his wheelchair, his head lowered, the pope could give the impression of a dozing person. However, one may be surprised to see how the pope did his best to reconcile adverse groups in these two countries at civil war. 

After DRC, the Pope visited South Sudan, the young country in the world. After its independence in 2011, South Soudan descended into war in 2013.

Despite the peace agreement signed in April 2018, thousands of South Sudanese have lost their lives over tribal conflicts. As a reminder, the South Sudanese authorities went to Rome invited by Pope Francis on April 2019. 

During their meeting, Pope Francis humbly knelt down with visible suffering to embrace the feet of the South Sudanese leaders as he was inviting them to make an end to conflicts and so work for peace in their countries. The Roman Catholic leader has called on leaders to embrace peace through a tortuous path.

Although he is still under fire from many people because of his point of view on homosexuality, pope Francis doesn’t relent to preach peace and God’s love in the world. For him, we are all sinners. No one deserves death because of what he did. The pope also remains a great mediator between countries in conflict. 

On this, he is a sign of divine peace in the world.

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