Pope gives instructive talk to African youth
2023.02.03 09:17
Pope gives instructive talk to African youth
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – On Thursday, Pope Francis urged young people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to create a new future free of ethnic rivalry, corruption, and mistrust that have contributed to so many bloody conflicts in Africa.
Francis addressed more than 65,000 young people in Martyrs Stadium about forgiveness and reconciliation, themes that have dominated his trip to Congo, where armed conflict has killed and displaced millions of people over decades.
Before the pope could continue, an organizer grabbed a microphone and yelled “let the pope speak” because the speech was repeatedly interrupted by cheers and applause.
A large portion of the audience broke out into a political chant in Lingala directed at President Felix Tshisekedi at one point: ” Your mandate has expired! Tshisekedi, who did not appear to be present in the stadium, is running for re-election in December.
While the pope has not said anything that could be interpreted as taking sides in Congolese politics, he called for free, open, and trustworthy elections in a speech on Tuesday and said: Only when power transforms into a form of service does it have meaning.
The topic of the pope’s stadium address on Thursday was “ingredients for the future.”
“Forgiveness must be given and received in order to create a new future. “Christians do that,” he stated.
Violence has plagued Congo for decades, partly due to the struggle for control of its vast mineral deposits and partly due to the complicated aftermath of Rwanda’s genocide in 1994.
“Beware of the temptation to blame someone else or to exclude someone because they are different; “Beware of anything that makes you feel safe in your own group, such as regionalism, tribalism, or anything else,” Francis advised the young people in the stadium.
“You are aware of what occurs: He stated, “You start out with prejudices about other people, then you justify hatred, then violence, and then you end up in the middle of a war.”
Francis also pleaded with the young people in the packed stadium to “do the right thing” and not make the same mistakes as previous generations. “Corruption, which never seems to stop spreading,” he said specifically.
He spontaneously led the stadium in a chant of “no to corruption” in French, Congo’s native tongue.
Many people in the crowd agreed with the theme because they thought their own leaders were corrupt and that they often had to pay bribes for basic services.
“The pope is right,” declared 21-year-old art student Joel Muhemereri Amani. You must corrupt the police in order to enter a location; I hope the government and the police will change.”
Medical student Genovic Lobombo claimed to have encountered corruption while attending school. He stated, “You must donate money to succeed.” Here, tyranny reigns.”
According to the United Nations, corruption costs African economies nearly $150 billion annually.
After the Pope’s speech, government spokesperson and minister of communication Patrick Muyaya stated that corruption was widespread and that structural issues existed, but the government would work to address them.
The Pope, who is 86 years old, arrived in Congo on Tuesday and will fly to South Sudan on Friday. In what the three Christian leaders have referred to as an unprecedented “pilgrimage of peace,” he will be traveling with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland.
Following a civil war that was fought primarily along ethnic lines and resulted in the deaths of 400,000 people, South Sudan, the youngest country in the world, is also dealing with conflict and hunger.
