Catholic bishops in the Provincial Episcopal Assembly of Bukavu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have expressed concern over the endemic insecurity in their episcopal province consisting of the Bukavu, Uvira, Goma, Kasongo, Kindu and Butembo-Beni dioceses.
The bishops have gathered for a six-day conclave in the diocese of Butembo-Beni where they expressed their concerns over the security and socio-political state of the nation.
This bishops stressed concern particularly on the encirclement of the city of Goma by the M23 rebels, the massacres and kidnappings of civilian populations by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) as well as the parallel administration in the entities under the control of armed groups.
The bishops also condemned the forced recruitments of young people into the M23 and insecurity in the camps for war displaced people around Goma.
The bishops believe that “despite the holding of elections, the Congolese state remains weak”,
They also underlined that the country’s political institutions are corrupted by anti-values, such as: theft, tribalism, nepotism, electoral fraud, corruption, cronyism, embezzlement which undermine social cohesion and in the manipulation of the identities of all social corporations (civil society, political parties, unions and citizen movements).
“The people are abandoned to their sad fate by the government” the bishops stated.
