New President of Congolese Bishops' Conference says Task is “a great responsibility, new challenge”

Kinshasa, 03 July, 2024 / 11:25 AM

Archbishop Fulgence Muteba Mugalu of the Catholic Archdiocese of  Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who was elected President of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) on June 27 has described his new position as both challenging and a great task.

Speaking to journalists at the end of the Plenary Assembly of CENCO in the Catholic Archdiocese of Kinshasa, Archbishop Muteba thanked CENCO members for choosing him as their new President.

“I thank God for this new position he has just given me. I thank His Eminence the Cardinal, the Archbishops, and the member Bishops of CENCO for choosing me. I know it's a great responsibility. I see it as a new challenge,” Archbishop Muteba said on June 29.

He added, “I'd really like us to work together so that our Church in DRC becomes more synodal, authentically evangelizing, and effectively prophetic.”

“The essential thing is that the tradition we have received from our predecessors can be perpetuated in calm and harmony, in the knowledge that the mission of the Church is first and foremost to announce, but also to denounce from time to time if circumstances allow,” the Congolese Archbishop said.

He continued, “We want the Church to shine out in our society, and to lead our country into a brighter future.”

He expressed gratitude to the outgoing CENCO President, Archbishop Marcel Utembi Tapa of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kisangani for his “exemplary leadership.”

The Catholic Archbishop said, “The President of the Episcopal Conference is a coordinator and he's there to moderate the debate. But otherwise, the work of the presidency as such is a work that is intrinsically linked to that of the general secretariat; but it's also a synodal work which is done in co-responsibility with the other Bishops.”

“In this way, we can carry out the mission entrusted to us. Today, the Church has a synodal dimension, and we need everyone, wherever they are, to be able to assume their responsibilities and to know how to do so with excellence,” Archbishop Muteba said.

The 61-year-old Catholic Archbishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in July 2005 as Bishop of DRC’s Kilwa-Kasenga Diocese said he expects the people of God to give him spiritual support.

“Conducting a conference like this is no easy task. So I need divine grace, but also the assistance and prayers of all God's people,” the Catholic Church leader added. 

He continued, “My dream is that the Church in the DRC will truly be the driving force behind development in our society, as we are already doing in the field of education and development in general. But also that our country be truly a country where life is good.”

He expressed optimism that DRC will be “a country that benefits from its wealth and where there is harmony and understanding, that we can put aside all these useless polemics and problems of insecurity, but truly that it be a kind of haven of peace.”

In the new CENCO leadership team, Archbishop Muteba will be assisted by Bishop Etienne Ung’eyowun Bediwegi of Bondo Diocese as First Vice President, and Bishop Jean-Bertin Nadonye Ndongo of Lolo Diocese as Second Vice President.