Kinshasa, 11 July, 2022 / 9:09 pm (ACI Africa).
Catholic Bishops in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Rwanda have, in a collective statement, expressed concern about violence in the African Great Lakes region of Central-Eastern Africa and urged parties in conflict to dialogue.
In their statement issued at the end of their July 7-9 Plenary Assembly in Kinshasa, DRC, members of the Association of Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa (ACEAC) that brings together those at the helm of Dioceses in the three African countries appeal for respect of human life and call for an end to violence and bloodshed in their region.
“We are deeply concerned about the deterioration of the security situation at the borders of our three countries, and more particularly in the North-Eastern part of the DR Congo, with dramatic consequences: insecurity, loss of life, massive displacements of populations, outbursts of violence, destruction of infrastructures, incitement to hatred,” the Catholic Bishops say.
ACEAC members regret the fact “too much blood has been spilled in our sub-region in recent decades, even to the point of genocide, the fruit of the sin of greed and selfishness.”
“The Great Lakes sub-region cannot remain indefinitely the standard of murderous acts or the atypical land of a reversed scale of values,” they bemoan, and add, “The victims are counted in their millions; women and children generally pay a heavy price.”
