In the DRC, on April 3, 2024, the government spokesperson returned to the remarks of Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo made during the last Easter mass. The head of the Congolese Catholic Church had notably estimated that recent rallies to the M23, a rebellion raging in the east of the country, are partly due to “ gestures that hurt others, that weaken national communion “. Patrick Muyaya emphasized that these words “ can be seen as encouragement, as moral support to those who choose to take up arms to think of conquering power “.
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In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the words of Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo during the Easter mass of March 31, 2024 caused the government to react, which judges them “ serious » and attacks.
The Archbishop of Kinshasa had questioned the authorities on the actions taken which could, according to him, incite rebellion. This was after a handful of members of ex-president Joseph Kabila’s party joined the M23 rebellion in eastern DRC, backed by Rwanda.
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The government considers the cardinal’s remarks outrageous and says it expects ” clarifications “. Patrick Muyaya, the government spokesperson, spoke on this subject on April 3, 2024 during a press conference attended by our correspondent, Pascal Mulegwa.
“ I hope he clarifies »
“ Congolese who want to take weapons to kill Congolese, to gain power, when we have chosen democracy, it is worryingfirst underlined the one who is also Minister of Communication and Media. When we remember the remarks made by Father Nshole where “We needed a courageous“, was the famous courageous man found by the “Catholic Church”? – in quotation marks because we must not make any amalgamation. Because the words of the Cardinal – I hope that he will make a clarification – can be seen as encouragement, as moral support to those who choose to take up arms to think of conquering power, while we have been in a cycle for two years which wants us to be able to get out of this “.
Patrick Muyaya continues: “ There, it is not a rebellion, it is an aggression which is established from a foreign country. That compatriots think that we must put ourselves under the authority of someone who kills other Congolese, under the pretext that things are not going well in the country, there is a real problem. »
#DRC🇨🇩: The government calls on Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo to “clarify” his remarks made during the Easter mass explaining the reasons for joining the rebels in the east of the country and the “recklessness” of the authorities accused of carrying out acts “which do not promote… pic.twitter.com/6Z4VwTs8W2
— Pascal Mulegwa (@pascal_mulegwa) April 3, 2024
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