Leading African cardinal denounces world’s ‘culpable silence’ about DR Congo conflicts
November 03, 2025
At a recent interreligious peace conference in Rome, the president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) denounced the world’s “culpable silence” about conflicts in his nation, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, OFM Cap, of Kinshasa described his nation as “a magnificent but wounded country, which for over 30 years has been experiencing one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts. More than 120 armed groups remain active.”
“These wars have caused millions of deaths, destroyed villages, and scattered families, amid the culpable silence of a world that continues to profit from the systematic plundering of this country’s resources.,” he said, as he reflected on Pope Leo’s call for an “unarmed and disarming peace.”
“Yet, these tragedies will not find a lasting solution through arms,” the prelate continued. “As armed groups multiply, conflicts spread, and institutions collapse. And it is ordinary people who pay the price of war: poverty, displacement, and desperation ... The Congolese experience demonstrates: the arms race leads to the ruin of the common good.”
“The Congolese are not asking for a truce, but for a conversion of minds; not promises, but a commitment to disarm hearts in the face of armies,” he added, as he discussed efforts by bishops and other Christian leaders in the nation to promote peace.
Pope Leo also addressed the conference and highlighted the importance of prayer for peace. The Community of Sant’Egidio has organized the conference each year since Pope St. John Paul II’s world day of prayer in Assisi in 1986.
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