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"Let's all say no to corruption together": the meeting of Pope Francis with 65,000 young Congolese

2023-02-02T14:42:16.006Z


It was his main act on the third day of his visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On Friday he leaves for South Sudan.


In the main act of his third day in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo with more than 90 million inhabitants, Pope Francis met 65,000 enthusiastic young people who gave him an ovation at the Martyrs Stadium and

called them to fight against misery, corruption and war violence

to "achieve a peaceful and honest future".

Continuous thunderous cheers, songs and dances alternated with Francis' speech to

the young people who make up 70% of the inhabitants

, with a presence in the country of 45 million Catholics, half the population.

Enthused by the noisy youthful atmosphere, the Pope urged them to

join hands

in a gesture of community.

"See? This is being in communion and being in a Church. Your well-being depends on the other."

Continuous thunderous cheers, songs and dances alternated with Francisco's speech to the young people.

Photo: Arsene Mpiana / AFP

The Argentine pontiff, who read his speech full of improvisations seated, invited Congolese youth to "beware of the temptation to point the finger at someone, to exclude another because they are of a different origin from yours."

He was referring to

ethnic discrimination

that has also been a source of secular violence in African countries.

The Pope invited them to

distance themselves "from tribalism

, from regionalism, which seem to strengthen you in your group but which represents the negation of the community."

“We already know how it happens.

First one believes in prejudice against others and then one justifies hatred, then violence comes and finally we are in the middle of war.

The Pope speaks to young people at the Stade des Martyrs stadium in Kinshasa.

Photo: Reuters

Violence in the East

In a huge country of more than two million square kilometers and with numerous ethnic groups that inhabit it, ethnic prejudices have fostered divisions that continue to this day, especially in the Congolese East where wars and guerrillas are flourishing caused by some 120 armed groups. , largely financed by neighboring countries.

In the last days of January, the violence in the Congolese East centered in the city of Goma, which forced the Argentine Pope to cancel a visit scheduled for this Thursday,

registered an outbreak

that caused new displacements of the poorest people.

It is estimated that

150,000 people had to flee the war zones.

According to the United Nations, there are currently more than six million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo displaced by violence in the east of the country and millions suffer from extreme food insecurity.

The Pope told the young people gathered in the stadium in the capital Kinshasa, "do not allow yourself to be overwhelmed by evil."

"Do not be manipulated by individuals or groups who are trying to use you to keep this country mired in violence and instability, so that you can continue to control it without answering to anyone."

In a speech that excited the Congolese population, on Monday the Pope launched a cry against the "economic colonization" that plunges even the

richest countries in natural resources in the world

into poverty and misery .

“Hands off Africa!

(...) Don't suffocate her!”

Bergoglio implored.

The country also suffers from a

very high level of unemployment,

especially youth.

It is one of the immediate causes of instability and insecurity.

They take advantage of armed groups, which find it easy to incorporate young people into their ranks.

Young faithful listen to Bergoglio in Kinshasa.

Photo: Arsene Mpiana / AFP

But corruption is also widespread, to which the political class itself is partly no stranger.

The Pope said in his speech that young people should say

"yes" to honesty and "no" to corruption.

Without waiting for the translator who was next to him, the pontiff said in French, the most widely spoken official language in the country:

"Let's all say no to corruption together,"

to which the crowd responded.

The Pope also invited young people to forgive.

“To create a new future we need to give and receive forgiveness.

This is what the Christian does: he does not love only those who love him, but he knows how to stop the spiral of personal and tribal revenge with forgiveness.

Francis said goodbye asking the young people that "thanks to them the country will once again be a fraternal garden, the heart of peace and freedom in Africa."

In the afternoon, the Pope met with Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukondo at the Embassy of the Holy See.

He then went to the Notre-Dame do Congo cathedral, built in 1947, where he planned to meet and speak with bishops, priests and religious.

The official day concluded, as in all trips, with

a reserved meeting with the priests who are members of the Society of Jesus

residing in the country.

Jorge Bergoglio is the first Jesuit Pope in history.

On Friday, Francis will fly north-east on the first visit by a pontiff to South Sudan, Africa's last independent country.

On Sunday he will return to Rome.

Vatican correspondent

ap​


look too

In front of a million Congolese, Pope Francis called for breaking the cycle of violence in a country torn apart by war

Tour of Africa: hundreds of thousands of people received Francis on the streets of Kinshasa

Source: clarin

All news articles on 2023-02-02

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