Pope Francis tells youth in DR Congo to shun ethnic rivalry and corruption
Pope Francis on Thursday urged young people in the Democratic Republic of Congo to forge a new future without the ethnic rivalry, corruption and distrust that have fuelled so many bloody conflicts in Africa.
Addressing more than 65,000 young people in Martyrs Stadium, Francis spoke of forgiveness and reconciliation, themes that have dominated his visit to Congo, where armed conflict has killed and displaced millions of people over the past decades.
But Thursday’s speech, focused on what he called “ingredients for the future”, struck a more hopeful tone than his previous ones as he spoke of potential new horizons for Congo rather than of its bloody past and present.
The speech was interrupted so often by applause and cheers that at one point an organiser took a microphone and shouted “let the pope speak” before he could continue.
“Beware of the temptation to point a finger at someone, to exclude another person because he or she is different; beware of regionalism, tribalism, or anything that makes you feel secure in your own group,” he told them.
“You know what happens: first, you believe in prejudices about others, then you justify hatred, then violence, and in the end, you find yourself in the middle of a war,” he said.
Congo has some of the world’s richest mineral deposits, but its abundant resources have stoked conflict between ethnic groups, militias, government troops and foreign invaders.
Eastern Congo has also been plagued by violence connected to the long and complex fallout from the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda.
“To create a new future, we need to give and receive forgiveness. That is what Christians do,” he said.
In urging the young people in the packed stadium to “do the right thing”, Francis also asked them not to repeat the mistakes of previous generations. He singled out “corruption, which never seems to stop spreading”.
He led the stadium in an impromptu chant of “no to corruption” in French, Congo’s lingua franca.
The theme struck a chord with many young people in the stadium, who denounced their own leaders as corrupt and complained of routinely having to pay bribes to receive what should be ordinary services. —Reuters
