Rome Newsroom, 04 February, 2023 / 12:00 pm (ACI Africa).
A Catholic priest and five students were arrested after an event Thursday morning with Pope Francis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, allegedly for criticizing the country’s president.
The students and Father Guy Julien Muluku, a Congolese member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, were detained nearly 34 hours before being released shortly before 10 p.m. on Feb. 3.
The arrest and subsequent release was confirmed to CNA by the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
The six were arrested around 12 p.m. by the president’s intelligence service after Pope Francis’ gathering with Congolese youth at Martyrs’ Stadium in Kinshasa, DRC, on Feb. 2.
When Pope Francis spoke against corruption during the Feb. 2 event, part of the crowd broke into a chant in the Lingala language directed at the country’s president and saying his mandate was over, according to the Associated Press.
