Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
16 December 2008
Washington, DC — Two visiting Catholic bishops have called for the United States' help in ending the deadly conflict in the east of the country.
The US should "provide logistical support for a rapid intervention force," said Bishop Fulgence Muteba Mugalu, according to CNS. "Right or wrong," the bishop added, "the average Congolese thinks that Rwanda is behind the conflict and that the US backs Rwanda."
Calling the conflict in eastern Congo the worst since World War II, Bishops Muteba of Kilwa and Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Bokungu said the US should help implement Amani Program, the peace process set up as part of the January cease-fire signed in Goma, capital of the North Kivu administrative region.
Bishop Muteba said that "It is important that U.S. diplomacy" shows, and this is not the case.
The Catholic Church in Congo "is a necessary and primary actor" in the humanitarian aid, peace and reconciliation process, said Sister Marie-Bernard Alima, secretary to the Congolese bishops' justice and peace commission. "If people are in trouble, people run" to the church.
Bishop Ambongo, president of the commission, said the conflict is not based on ethnic hatred. "Something else is in play that people don't want to talk about," he said, referring to Congo's exploited mineral wealth of cobalt, copper and other minerals used in tech gadgets, such as cell phones.
"And we think that in order to exploit these resources" the rebels "want to take a part of Congo and make it independent. No one will say that openly," he said.
One of the clues that the conflict is rooted in Congo's mineral wealth is that "we talk about dialogue and sign agreements and agreements don't work," he said, adding that there's an unspoken agenda that has not been addressed so it has not been solved.
When asked about the most recent peace deal being brokered in Kenya, Bishop Ambongo expressed cautious optimism, "We always hope for peace: we are pastors but we fear this will follow the same pattern." He emphasized that the bishops' position is that the Amani Program must be implemented for peace.
Bishop Muteba said, "Catholics and governments should understand" that each cell phone has a drop of innocent Congolese blood in it. People cannot ignore the Congolese "like they were flies" to swat away.
The bishops and Sr Marie-Bernard Alima were on a tour through Canada, US, France and Belgium.
Since August, more than 250,000 people have been displaced in eastern Congo's renewed violence. More than 1 million people already were displaced in the region from previous fighting.
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