Kinshasa — "An illegal order that the Archbishop of Lubumbashi did not follow," said the Archdiocese of Lubumbashi (in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo) in a statement regarding the ban imposed by General Eddy Kapend Yrung, Commander of the 22nd Military Region, on the President of the Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) and Archbishop of Lubumbashi, Fulgence Muteba Mugalu, from celebrating the Mass of Christ the King in the parish of "St. Sebastian" in the military camp of Vangu.

"The Archbishop was not intimidated by this illegal order, which is symptomatic of a blatant abuse of office, and went to St. Sebastian as planned for several days," the statement reads.

Archbishop Muteba was greeted by an "enthusiastic crowd of believers at the entrance to the church," the statement continued. The Archdiocese of Lubumbashi believes that the general's actions "violate the respect for religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution and the Framework Agreement between the Holy See and the Democratic Republic of Congo."

This is already the second episode of tension between the Archdiocese of Lubumbashi and the Congolese military following the kidnapping of a seminarian in the inter-diocesan seminary "Saint Paul" in Lubumbashi on November 18. The young man was taken away by soldiers under the command of a colonel in the courtyard of the seminary.

The seminarian was released on the evening of the same day. According to the archdiocese, these incidents are linked to a land rights dispute over the concession of the seminary, which is repeatedly expropriated.

"These acts are neither accidental nor the work of ordinary gangs, but are linked to the maneuvers of those who want to illegally appropriate Church land," said Archbishop Muteba, who recalled that the Church's rights to these properties have been recognized in several judgments since 1976.