Congo Religious Leaders Work for Peace

See also: Congolese Religious Leaders' Position on the War, a document issued by this group.

NEW YORK (UMNS) – A group of religious leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo is attempting to bring reconciliation to their war-torn country.

The six leaders, including United Methodist Bishop Fama Onema, traveled to New York to attend a Jan. 24 special session of the U.N. Security Council about the situation in the Congo, led by U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright. They also participated in a Jan. 25 briefing at the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries' headquarters.

Their immediate goal – which has received the blessing of Congo President Laurent Kabila – is to organize a consultation to foster reconciliation among divided groups in the African nation and move toward implementation of the Lakasa peace accord, signed in the summer of 1999.

"We are calling this national consultation because we believe that after a session of exchange and conversation many obstacles to the dialogue will be removed and the Inter-Congolese Dialogue which is the hope for peace in the country and security in the region will be a success," the leaders said in a written statement.

The leaders have received assistance in their efforts from the All Africa Council of Churches. The Rev. Daniel Ngoy Mulunda-Nyanga, a United Methodist pastor and council staff member who accompanied the group, said the implementation of the peace accord "is the only hope we have, but people are so divided."

Although representatives from Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi will be invited to the consultation, "we have to find reconciliation first in our own country and then go into other countries," Onema declared. He also serves as vice president of the All Africa Council of Churches.

Kabila became president of the country formerly known as Zaire when he overthrew the late dictator Mobuto Sese Seko in 1997. Since August of 1998, however, Tutsi rebels backed by the governments of Rwanda and Uganda have plagued his government. The civil war has resulted in human rights abuses, massive killings, the displacement of civilians within the country, and the exile of civilians outside the Congo.

El Hadji Mudilo-Wa-Molemba, leader of the Islamic Community, added that, beyond the politics of the situation, the war has dire economic consequences, "a systematic pillaging of the entire country."

The effect on the people of the Congo has been equally devastating. "Children are not regularly going to school, a big number of Congolese are living either in exile or in refugee camps in inhuman conditions, others are hiding in deep forests without medicine, clothing and food. We, the religious leaders, cannot remain inactive and watch our people and our country die."

They are urging the international community "to implement and respect the international conventions and charters that secure justice to each nation and people of the world" and pressure invading countries to withdraw their forces.

One of the issues being discussed in the U.N. Security Council meeting was whether peacekeeping forces should be dispatched to the Congo. Cardinal Fredic Etshou, Roman Catholic Church of Congo, said he believes that as the peacekeeper for the world, the United Nations "has the obligation, the duty" to come to the Congo.

The leaders support all peace initiatives, including the Lusaka Peace Agreement. "We believe that without peace there cannot be development and democracy," the statement said. "We stand for peace so to help our people regain hope and start the hard and difficult task of the national reconstruction."

Pointing to the 10 transitional governments the former Zaire has had since 1990, the leaders call for the organizing of democratic elections as soon as possible. The Rev. Gregoire Mbuy-Kana, president of the indigenous church, the Kimbanquist Church of Congo, told the briefing he believed Kabila would voluntarily lead the way to such elections if supported by the majority of citizens.

So far, various political leaders in the Congo who have been contacted about the consultation support the idea, Mulunda said during the briefing. Bishop Bodho Marini, president of the Church of Christ in Congo, added that the group was able to meet with one rebel leader, who responded positively, during the United Nations meeting.

The total delegation was composed of Onema, Etshou, Marini, Mbuy-Kana, Mudilo and Monsignor Timotheos K. Kontomerkos of the Orthodox Church in Congo.