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Congo-Kinshasa: Archbishop Insists Politics Must Pursue Common Good
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Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
8 April 2008
Posted to the web 8 April 2008
Kinshasa
Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, and president of the bishops' conference here, has said that politics cannot divorce itself from morality.
"Political power only has meaning if its actions guarantee the common good of society, or at least the necessary conditions that allow access for all members of the community to an integral development that goes beyond their personal means", Archbishop Monsengwo said.
"In other words, the political power that is not concerned for the common good or that settles for simply taking care of private government affairs, is an irresponsible power, a useless political power, because it goes against its very own nature."
One cannot engage in politics without taking responsibility for public matters concerning the welfare of the people, the archbishop said in a speech given at a workshop for Catholics working in politics. The event was held March 28-30 in the Betania Center of Gombe.
According to a report by Fides, Archbishop Monsengwo stressed Congo's need to recover its fundamental values in civil life, and thus enable the country to resolve the serious governance crisis that it is experiencing.
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"Politics cannot avoid morality because the life of the community depends on its actions. The politician carries out voluntary human acts for which he is responsible and whose goodness or maliciousness are evident at the light of natural law and moral law," the Archbishop affirmed.
Consequently, "the political players must [be responsible] for their actions not only [before] the public who vote them into office, but above all, in the presence of the Creator of all men, and therefore, of society."
The Christian politician is called to use legislative means to fight for authentic human and cultural values, with the goal of facilitating virtuous behaviour in society. "In this sense, we often forget the fact that the Congolese people supported a series of coherent values in the Sovereign National Conference. A people without memory are at risk for becoming a people without history. Forgetting such values will eventually force the Congolese society to confront the anti-values that go against human dignity."
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