Bishops tell Congolese to reject attempts to change constitution

04 Jul 2013

By The Record

Old men who are assisted by Jesuit Refugee Service are pictured in 2012 in Mweso, Congo. PHOTO: CNS/Peter Balleis, S.J., Jesuit Refugee Service

Congo’s bishops called on Catholics to reject any attempts by the current government to modify the constitution and jeopardize democracy.

A campaign of national consultations led by Aubin Minaku, president of the Congress, will review the Congolese Constitution’s Article 220, which sets out the principles of universal suffrage, the representative nature of government, the number and length of mandates of the president, and independence of judicial power and the multiparty system.

Father Leonard Santedi, secretary-general of the Congolese bishops’ conference, told journalists at the end of the bishops’ general meeting June 28 that these principles should not be subject to any constitutional revision.

In a statement, the bishops called on Catholics “to remain vigilant and ready to thwart any eventual maneuver to modify these articles of the constitution.”

“Respect for our country’s fundamental law is the cornerstone of our young democracy and the gage of stability of our country,” they said.

Church leaders, including Kinshasa Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo, criticized President Joseph Kabila before the 2011 general elections when he revised the constitution to remove the requirement for a second round of voting if a candidate did not have at least 51 percent of the votes.

The bishops also announced their decision to fire a priest as director of a major church institution because of his successful bid to become president of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The bishops announced that Father Apollinaire Malumalu, commission president, would be dismissed from his role as director-general of the Cardinal Martino Pan-African Institute, a body established by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace to promote church social teaching.

The bishops said they were “chagrined” by Father Malumalu’s decision and said any sanctions would be applied by his bishop.

During their general meeting, the bishops also:

— Met with Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo to discuss back pay for teachers. They said they told him of the suffering of teachers working in remote areas, often working in church schools, who are far away from banking facilities, and whose salaries arrive in arrears. They also discussed using the Caritas network to ensure that the teachers are paid on time.

— Discussed the worsening poverty affecting the Congolese people and the “miserable” salaries of civil servants. They called on elected officials to be more concerned about the welfare of the population that elected them. They called on the government to launch a commission to look at and harmonize salaries paid by state institutions.

— Urged the government to assume its responsibility in tracing the whereabouts of three Assumptionist priests who disappeared Oct. 19 from Our Lady of the Poor rectory in Mbau. None of the three has been seen since, although the diocese reports having received several phone calls from anonymous callers who claim to be kidnappers, demanding a ransom. – CNS