Pope Francis gives cold greeting to Congolese president

Oct 07, 2016

By Anthony Egan
Though Pope Francis did not actually wag his finger at Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Joseph Kabila at their meeting in Rome on Sept 26, by all accounts the event was tense.

This is unsurprising given that presidential elections due in November were recently suspended and that violent protests have broken out over both the delay and a court’s decision to let Kabila hold onto power until another election could be scheduled. This, and ongoing massacres in Congo’s North Kivu province, reflect badly on a regime that is as corrupt and kleptocratic as its predecessors. It begs for some kind of moral intervention by agencies like the Catholic Church.

Having watched a video snippet of the Francis-Kabila meeting, I was struck by the Pope’s body language, which told me that Francis was not amused by what he has heard from Congo. I don’t blame him.

I happen to have been in Kinshasa, Congo’s sprawling, chaotic capital, in early August for a meeting. Tensions that have subsequently erupted in violence were already in the air. Ironically perhaps, the purpose of my visit was a meeting of African Jesuit centres for the Social Apostolate and the common theme that emerged from every corner of the continent was the leadership deficit.

Corruption, mismanagement, dictatorship and the elites’ manipulation of democracy are at the heart of contemporary Africa’s “darkness” (if I might make an allusion to Joseph Conrad’s classic novel about the Congo region in colonial times). Wholesale theft of resources and politicians using their positions for personal gain have reduced a potential economic superpower to a failed state. It is said that hydroelectric power from the Congo River could light up the whole African continent. But, instead, those who can afford it in Kinshasa have to rely on generators; the power supply here (as in many other parts of Africa) is spotty at best.--America Magazine