Nuncio, Vatican newspaper pay tribute to slain Congolese prelate, 30 years after assassination

November 07, 2026

The apostolic nuncio to the Democratic Republic of the Congo paid tribute to the Servant of God Archbishop Christophe Munzihirwa Mwene Ngabo, S.J. (1926-1996), at a conference marking the 30th anniversary of his assassination.

At the conference’s opening Mass, Archbishop Mitja Lescovar preached that the slain prelate was a “witness of the Gospel of peace and missionary of the charity of Christ among the poor and the disinherited, among the refugees, victims of the impious race to power.”

In its own tribute, the Vatican newspaper recalled that Archbishop Munzihirwa strongly criticized financial plunder committed by Rwandan invaders during the First Congo War—an invasion, he said, that was carried out with the support of “certain Western powers that exploit its geographical position to secure control over the political, economic, and strategic future of the Congo.”

The newspaper reported:

In September 1996, following an invasion by a coalition of forces from Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, the city [Bukavu] had effectively been left to its own fate. Munzihirwa was the only authority who remained, the sole figure to whom the people could turn. He was a man standing alone, having taken the burden of an entire population upon his own shoulders. “His goal was to save people’s lives, to instill courage, and to put an end to the violence between different ethnic groups,” recalls a missionary who knew him well ...

The Rwandan army was occupying the city. On the morning [of October 29], the archbishop traveled by van to the Trappistine nuns’ monastery in Murhesa, 25 kilometers away. He hid six Rwandan Tutsi nuns beneath some mattresses and brought them to safety at a convent in Bukavu, disregarding the risk to his own life. At the time, Congolese soldiers were killing anyone of Tutsi origin, as retaliation for the ongoing invasion, as well as those who sheltered them.

Around 6:00 p.m., while he was on his way back to the Jesuit residence where he lived, his vehicle was struck by bursts of machine-gun fire from two Rwandan soldiers. The driver and the soldier acting as his escort were killed instantly. He was ordered to stand next to a utility pole while they awaited instructions via radio. Then, around 7:30 p.m., he was executed. Thirty years later, those who ordered the assassination of Munzihirwa remain in the shadows, unpunished.

 

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Further information:

• Remembering Mons. Munzihirwa: Congolese Urged to Emulate Courageous Catholic Archbishop Murdered in Fight for Peace (ACI Africa, 11/3/26)
• Il pastore che non abbandonò (L'Osservatore Romano, 11/6/26)