Here’s What Pope Francis Said About Exploitative Mining in the Congo

Congolese civil rights attorney Hervé Diakiese Kyungu testifying on July 14, 2022, at a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C. on the use of child labor in China-backed cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Screenshot from YouTube video

Congolese civil rights attorney Hervé Diakiese Kyungu testified at a July 2022 congressional hearing that children in DRC are often trafficked and exploited because of their small size and mine the cobalt with primitive tools or more often with their bare hands. An estimated 40,000 children work in these mines in DRC. 

The DRC supplies more than 70% of the world’s demand for cobalt. Of that, 15% to 30% is extracted in artisanal mines, meaning they are small-scale operations that use dangerous, primitive methods. Almost all of the cobalt mines in DRC are owned by Chinese companies, and China, which manufactures myriad electronic goods, is the world’s largest importer of cobalt. Even in larger mines with marginally better working conditions, the salaries are small and the work is dangerous.

Father Rigobert Minani Bihuzo, a Catholic priest who has worked to expose child labor and human rights violations in the DRC’s mining sector, testified last year to the dangerous working conditions at the mines. 

Father Rigobert Minani Bihuzo, a Catholic priest who has worked to expose child labor and human rights violations in the DRC’s mining sector, testified last year to the dangerous working conditions at the mines. 

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In addition to the toll on the workers in the country’s vast mining operations — which can include illnesses and birth defects — environmental concerns, such as water pollution from the mines, also threaten the Congolese people. 

In his address to Congolese authorities, Pope Francis encouraged those present to undertake a “courageous and inclusive social renewal” to change the mining conditions in the country. 

“The most precious diamonds of these lands are the sons and daughters of this nation; they need to have access to an education that enables them to make their innate talents shine brightly. Education is fundamental: It is the path to the future, the road to take for achieving the complete freedom of this country and of the African continent ... yet many children receive no schooling,” the pope lamented. 

“How many of them, instead of receiving a good education, are exploited! All too many of them die, subjected to servile labor in the mines. No effort should be spared to denounce and finally end the scourge of child labor.”

The topic of mining and exploitation was raised again on Thursday during the pope’s meeting with priests and religious in the Kinshasa Cathedral. A Congolese religious sister, offering testimony to the pope, described her country as “a land of martyrs, murders, and wars entertained and financed from outside.”

The sister told the pope: “Most Blessed Father, despite this picture of multiple injustices, the Congo remains a land blessed by God, a generous, prayer-loving people, filled with vitality and hope, as Your Holiness has surely observed. That is why we are not discouraged, because we believe in the risen Christ.”

Responding to her testimony, Pope Francis said he was reminded “how difficult it is to carry out your mission in a land rich in natural beauty and resources but wounded by exploitation, corruption, violence, and injustice.”

Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and assistant podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and in the past has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer.